A California resident with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status has filed a class-action lawsuit against a private health care university, arguing that he was illegally denied access to a university program due to his immigration standing.
Carlos Alberto Alonso, 28, of San Francisco filed the lawsuit on Dec. 19 in Santa Barbara County Superior Court against A.T. Still University (ATSU), alleging that he was barred from entering a training program for students wanting to become physicians’ assistants due to his immigration status. Alonso sought to enter the program offered at ATSU’s Santa Maria campus, called Central Coast Physician Assistance (CCPA), but was told he didn’t qualify due to his “non-permanent” residential status, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit, which was advanced by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), seeks more than $35,000 for class members who were allegedly denied access to the program in violation of the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. That law bars discrimination based on a number of characteristics, including immigration status.
“Limiting enrollment on the basis of immigration status is irrational and expressly prohibited by California law,” Thomas Saenz, MALDEF’s president and general counsel, said in a statement emailed to the Southern California Record. “A.T. Still University should immediately change its unlawful practices.”
A request for comment sent to the university went unanswered. ATSU, which is based in Missouri, has campuses in both Arizona and California that offer health care programs dealing with osteopathic medicine, dentistry, physical therapy and public health. ATSU has an average enrollment of 3,900 students.
Alonso, who has a bachelor’s degree and a Social Security number and has lived in the United States since 1996, was told by university officials that DACA was not a permanent status, and for that reason ATSU does not admit DACA students, according to the lawsuit.
“Plaintiff Alonso suffered harm from ATSU’s unlawful discrimination when he was denied the opportunity and/or deterred from applying for the CCPA program on the basis of his alienage and/or immigration status,” the complaint says. “This denial caused plaintiff Alonso to feel the deleterious effects of discrimination and to suffer harm, including actual damages, emotional distress and other negative effects.”
“Despite receiving public health training from Johns Hopkins University and other schools, along with working in the field for years, ATSU refused to consider Alonso’s application solely because of his immigration status,” MALDEF attorney Luis Lozada said. “This case unfortunately illustrates that, despite having federal work authorization, DACA recipients continue to face barriers in applying to higher education institutions and challenges in trying to improve their lives.”
The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that the defendant’s actions violate the Unruh Act, an injunction stopping ATSU officials from engaging in “unlawful policies and practices,” monetary damages for class members to be determined during a trial, and reimbursement for attorney fees and other related costs.
The Unruh Act has been criticized by some tort-reform advocates who say its provisions for monetary damages against defendants attract “serial plaintiffs” seeking “jackpot justice.”