A court ordered the University of California to consider hiring migrants, ruling this week that the state’s fair employment law allows them jobs even if they’re here illegally.

The three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeals said the school must otherwise prove that federal law requires a ban against such hiring.

“We conclude that the university’s employment policy facially discriminates based on immigration status,” wrote Judge Jeremy Goldman for the unanimous court. “As a result, the university abused its discretion when it relied on improper criteria in deciding to continue using its policy.”

At issue is the fair employment law, which bars discrimination on the basis of immigration status — unless it conflicts with federal law.

In this case, the school system says the federal 1986 Reagan amnesty for illegal immigrants, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, included language making it illegal to hire illegal immigrants. The school system said its hands are tied.

But the three-judge panel said in its Tuesday ruling that the school is just assuming, but hasn’t proved, that the state law is in conflict with the federal law.

The judges urged the school to sue — a lawsuit the school believes it would lose — to prove the point.

“The applicability of IRCA to the university has never been directly addressed by any state or federal court,” Judge Goldman opined.

The school system said it doesn’t discriminate on immigration status, pointing to its hiring of migrants here under DACA, the Obama-era program that granted work permits to illegal immigrant “Dreamers.”

School officials said their policy balanced the needs of illegal immigrants against the risk of a federal lawsuit for knowingly employing those the federal law would seem to bar.

The judges said that worry about “litigation risk” isn’t enough to trump the migrants’ rights under state law.

The lawsuit was filed by Iliana Perez, a former lecturer, and some graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles.

“This ruling is a landmark victory for undocumented students who have fought for decades to be seen, supported and valued within the University of California system,” said Ms. Perez, who notes she was here as an “undocumented” immigrant while serving as a lecturer.

“UC must now act with urgency to dismantle exclusionary policies and ensure all students, regardless of immigration status, can fully participate in their education, contribute to their campuses and shape California’s future,” she said.

The issue could become a new hot potato for Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat eyeing a run for president in 2028.

He vetoed a bill last year that would have rewritten the University of California policy to explicitly allow hiring of illegal immigrants.

Mr. Newsom said the bill would have exposed state employees to civil and even criminal liability.

“It is critical that the courts address the legality of such a policy and the novel legal theory behind this legislation before proceeding,” he said at the time.

The new ruling this week throws the matter back into his hands.

The legal theory, developed by UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy, is that the 1986 federal law applies to private employers but not to states and their subdivisions, including public colleges and schools.

Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of CILP, called Tuesday’s ruling “powerful.”

“It is wrong — both morally and legally — to bar our state’s most talented students from access to crucial educational employment opportunities based on their immigration status,” he said. “We call on the UC to comply with state law and treat all its students equally, regardless of immigration status.”

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.