SACRAMENTO – Today the California Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Assembly Bill 540 which allows students who attend at least three years of high school in California and who graduate from a California high school (or receive their GED) to qualify for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities, regardless of their immigration status. The Court found that federal law did not bar California from offering in-state tuition to all students who meet these requirements.

“The California Supreme Court today upheld AB 540, which permits students to pay in-state tuition rates if they attended California high schools for at least three years and graduated from a California high school,” said Hector Villagra, ACLU/SC legal director. “ It was challenged by anti-immigrant groups who said that it provided educational benefits to undocumented immigrants on the basis of residence, in violation of federal law.”

State lawmakers recognized that it is in the best interest of the state to encourage all California high school graduates, including undocumented students, to pursue higher education. Today the Court upheld these principles.

When AB 540 was enacted in October of 2001, it was the second such provision to become law. Since then, eight other states have enacted similar laws, including Utah, New York, Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas, Illinois, New Mexico, and Nebraska.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, Martinez vs. Regents of the University of California. The ACLU and the National Immigration Law Center were counsel for the amici, which also included the ACLU of Northern California, ACLU of Southern California, ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties and the Orange County Dream Team.

“By upholding AB 540 the court has ensured that California’s colleges and universities remain a viable option for California students, many of whom are likely to remain in state after receiving their degrees. I am happy that the Court has decided that these students should be granted the same opportunity to obtain an affordable education as their classmates,” said Lucero Chavez, an immigrant rights attorney with the ACLU/SC.

The ACLU of Southern California is deeply concerned by federal agents’ abrupt decision to detain and initiate deportation proceedings against an immigrant worker who filed a federal class action lawsuit against a Fullerton-based firm in August for labor and civil rights violations.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (ICE), agents arrested Osfel Andrade Wednesday morning at his home. Andrade is one of four named plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Southern California in August against Terra Universal, Inc.

Agents raided the Fullerton-based manufacturing company in June and arrested 43 workers. The company is currently under investigation by ICE and the U.S. Department of Labor. Terra Universal produces “clean rooms” and other high tech laboratory equipment for NASA and the United States military, as well as the private sector.

Mr. Andrade’s arrest appears to be a direct consequence of having filed the complaint against his former employer for back wages.

Federal officials must protect immigrants who are victims of unscrupulous employers; targeting them for deportation inadvertently aids those who exploit them.

“By singling out and targeting one of four plaintiffs in this lawsuit, ICE sends a very clear and counterproductive message to immigrant workers: if you are a victim of exploitation, don’t complain because you might be deported,” said Jennie Pasquarella, a staff attorney with the ACLU/SC.

“ICE went after a worker who had stood up to defend his rights and claim the back wages owed by his employer,” Pasquarella said. “This action undercuts federal officials’ ability to go after unscrupulous employers by driving immigrant workers further underground.”

Like the workers who were arrested and prosecuted in 2008 at a Postville meatpacking plant in Iowa, Mr. Andrade has provided information to authorities. He is eligible for a visa for victims who assist law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrator.

Mr. Andrade and other employees cooperated with investigators by providing evidence of a systematic scheme of workplace exploitation by providing hundreds of payroll and employment documents that corroborate years of unlawful activity.

Terra Universal routinely required its largely immigrant workforce to work overtime hours without pay. The company used a fraudulent time system to evade government scrutiny. It required workers, including Andrade, to clock out at the end of an 8-hour work shift and clock back in as a “second job.” Workers who complained about workplace issues or who suffered injuries were fired, had their pay deducted or their hours reduced and were verbally abused.

The ACLU/SC, along with its co-counsel Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick filed suit in August on behalf of Andrade and other workers.

The parties today announced the settlement of a landmark class action lawsuit filed against Los Angeles County agencies alleging the failure to provide a constitutionally adequate education to youth detained at Camp Challenger, the County’s largest juvenile detention facility.

Under the settlement agreement announced today, the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) and the Los Angeles Probation Department (Probation) will work extensively with a team of nationally renowned experts to implement systemic program reforms at Challenger and Christa McAuliffe High School in order to provide the required education and special education to the hundreds of youth who are detained there. The reform will cover at least 13 major areas, including literacy, instruction, transition, special education, and aftercare. The reforms will also focus on leadership at Challenger and sustainability, in order to ensure that the changes implemented as part of the settlement are permanent. The experts who will work hand-in-hand with the Challenger team under this agreement are some of the nation’s leaders in the development of educational and rehabilitative programs for youth in juvenile detention settings.

“This settlement will be transformative for the youth and staff at Challenger, and represents more than just a resolution to a case. It represents our collective commitment to give these kids the education they need to succeed in life. We applaud the County of Los Angeles, the Probation Department and LACOE for working with us to ensure that the kids at Camp Challenger receive this chance. ” says Shawna L. Parks, Legal Director for the Disability Rights Legal Center.

The settlement provides a host of other of programmatic changes at Challenger, including creation of the Challenger Reform Taskforce that will be responsible for providing information and feedback relevant to the reform efforts at Challenger and serving as a liaison to individuals at Challenger and community stakeholders. In addition, LACOE and Probation will develop a literacy program, including a lending library program and librarian, and a career and technical education program, services which were previously unavailable to the youth.

“This settlement represents a long overdue promise to the young people at Challenger: a promise to ensure that they receive the tools to learn to read and write, to have the opportunity to gain marketable skills, and to successfully transition back into their communities and schools,” said Laura Faer, Directing Attorney, Children’s Rights Project, Public Counsel Law Center. “The County has taken an important step toward reforming a broken system that has been failing our children for far too long. With this settlement and the serious commitment of all the parties, we have the opportunity to transform Challenger from one of the worst education systems in the nation, to a model for other jurisdictions to follow.”

Importantly, the settlement also provides for intensive reading services for the youth who were detained at Challenger since January 12, 2008. As a result, these youth will be able to access educational services at no cost in order to help them regain the educational ground they lost while at Challenger.

LACOE and Probation will also reform Challenger’s prior disciplinary and solitary confinement policies to ensure that students receive an appropriate education as required by state law.
“From its very inception, Challenger has been the black hole of Los Angeles’ juvenile justice system, a hellish place where every child has been left behind. A sentence to Challenger has more often than not been the first step to a lifetime sentence to California’s penal system. The historic settlement announced today will implement an action plan prepared by seven of our nation’s leading experts in the successful delivery of educational and rehabilitative services in juvenile correctional institutions. It promises nothing less than a complete makeover of Challenger from a factory of despair to a school for hope,” said Mark Rosenbaum, chief counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

This lawsuit, Casey A., et al., v. Jon R.Gundry, et al. (Civil Action No. CV 10-00192 GHK (FMOx)), was filed on January 12, 2010. The settlement will not become final until it is formally approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It also includes four years of monitoring to ensure the reforms are implemented.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the Los Angeles County Probation Department, the Los Angeles County Office of Education (which operates schools at county probation camps and juvenile halls), and several county education officials, including the superintendent of the Office of Education, the director of that agency’s juvenile court schools, and the current and former principals of the probation department’s Challenger Memorial Youth Center.

Counsel in the lawsuit include the Disability Rights Legal Center, Public Counsel, and the National ACLU Racial Justice Program.