01/15/2026
✊Yesterday, on January 13th, the California State Assembly’s Higher Education Committee voted to pass AB 713, the Opportunity for All Act. AB 713, sponsored by the Coalition and Assemblymember José Luis Solache (D-62; ), would guarantee equal access to on-campus job opportunities for all students, regardless of immigration status, at the UC, CSU, and CA Community Colleges.
Together with our O4A Coalition partners, including SAFIRE at UC Irvine (), SPEAK at UC Davis (), IDEAS at UCLA (), and SURGE at Cal State LA (), IJAC mobilized alongside Asm. Solache to attend the hearing and demonstrate our support for the landmark bill.
Carlos Alarcón, Policy Analyst and IJAC co-founder, delivered a powerful witness testimony uplifting the voices of undocumented students across California. Similarly, President Aditi Hariharan expressed the need for all students to be treated fairly and with dignity. Hariharan also highlighted the critical importance of campus employment to all students’ financial, academic, and personal wellbeing.
✍️📃 The bill now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration. If signed into law, California would be the first state in the nation to guarantee equitable employment opportunities for all students. At a time of tremendous uncertainty for our immigrant communities, California must heed the challenge and embrace sound polices, like AB 713, that promote immigrant inclusion, educational opportunity, and economic growth.
Read our full statement at the link in our bio or visit: weareijac.org/statements-and-media/ab713-ahed-statement.
