UC pushed to break legal ground by hiring immigrant students without work permits for its summer classes. The company said that they would be placed with students from other countries who have visas and work permits.
The two students were initially placed in Los Angeles, but the school was unable to find them a place in that city and instead enrolled them in the class at the school. The two students were eventually able to stay in school at the school and the following year, were able to graduate in May, at which time they applied for their green cards.
President of UC system, Janet Napolitano has ordered the removal of all students from the school for participating in the program. The university is planning to appeal the decision to the State Department, and will also seek legal counsel on its next steps.
During an interview at UC Merced last week, a student was asked to comment on the school’s decision.
A student at UC Merced said the reason behind the removal from the studentship is because of the cost.
“The reason why they decided to remove us from the program because of the costs…it took a lot of money to make the program happen,” the student said. “The students of California have so much to offer and they should be able to participate in something like this to really experience it.”
The student also said that the reason why the students didn’t learn a lot about the country and the culture because of the way the program was designed.
“It was not intended for the students to learn about immigration that are in the program. It was intended for them to learn about their studies which is not the same thing,” the student said. “It makes the program much harder to go, because you are forced to learn all these foreign language which you don’t usually learn unless you are required to.”
However, the students were the ones who forced the school to take action.
Last week, the school had announced that it would be closing, and that the students would be offered a spot to complete the class in a different school, and if they pass, they can reapply for the program in another city.
The school says that the students who participated in the summer program in June would have been able to apply for green cards