California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 713 on Sept. 20, which would have allowed for undocumented students with campus jobs at public colleges and universities to be paid.
Democratic Assembly member José Luis Solache Jr., who represents the 62nd Assembly District in southeastern Los Angeles County, authored AB 713. The bill would have prohibited the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges from disqualifying a student from a job solely because the student lacked federal work authorization.
Solache did not respond to Annenberg Media’s request for comment.
If signed, the measure would have taken effect Jan. 6, 2027. According to an analysis of AB 713 on Jan. 13, 2025, by the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, the bill does not apply to state governments acting as employers.
AB 713 would not have changed USC’s hiring rules given that USC is a private institution and the bill applied only to California’s public higher-education systems. USC requires student workers to present federal form I-9 documents verifying their employment eligibility during onboarding, according to USC payroll guidance, meaning USC students without federal work authorization cannot be hired into conventional campus jobs.
Although AB 713 does not apply to a private institution such as USC, some students said the veto raised broader concerns about educational access and financial security.
Annie Nguyen, a second-year biomedical engineering student, said financial assistance has helped make her USC education possible. Although the veto does not affect her, Nguyen said campus employment could determine whether students without family financial support can afford college.
“I feel like undocumented students are, you know, students as well,” Nguyen said. “For students on work study, they get paid to have on-campus jobs, if [undocumented students] aren’t getting those, then they might not be able to pay for school.”
Newsom said in his veto message that this is the second time in two years he vetoed a bill of the same intent, pointing to possible legal consequences for university employees, students and the institutions themselves. He cited “potential criminal and civil liability for state employees.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, this means that university employees involved in hiring could potentially face federal fines or prosecution if federal authorities determined that employing students without work authorization violated the Federal Immigration Reform and Control Act.
After the nearly identical bill to AB 713 was vetoed in 2024, an August 2025 opinion from California’s First District Court of Appeal said that UC had not adequately justified its policy excluding students without work authorization and directed the system to reconsider it under California anti-discrimination law.
An estimated 60,000 students without legal immigration status who attend California’s public community colleges and universities would have been allowed to get paid if the bill passed, according to CalMatters.
Under current federal law and campus policies, students at public institutions in California unable to provide proof of work authorization are generally excluded from conventional campus employment, according to the Assembly Committee on Higher Education’s 2025 analysis. The analysis notes that some Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients may receive federal work authorization and therefore remain eligible for employment.
According to the Assembly committee’s 2001 hearing, undocumented students who meet California requirements can qualify for in-state tuition and state financial aid through the California Dream Act. However, the U.S. Department of Education states that undocumented students are ineligible for federal student aid, including Pell Grants and federal student loans.
USC junior Mikey Luevano also said he was not directly affected by the veto but viewed access to campus employment as an issue of equal opportunity.
“Even though it doesn’t directly impact me, it feels like they’re depriving a lot of students of opportunity,” Luevano said. He added that students who have earned admission to a university should also have the opportunity to seek paid work on its campus.
The California Supreme Court declined to review the case, leaving the appellate decision intact, according to The Associated Press. However, the ruling did not decide the larger federal question of whether public universities may legally hire people without federal work authorization.
Edited by Natalie Cerna and Scott Hills