No More “Aliens”: Outdated Term Shipped Back to Home Planet

Did you know that California law currently allows employers in certain circumstances to give preferential treatment to candidates who aren’t “aliens”? No, you didn’t miss the new Independence Day movie (what took so long?) or yet another landing at Roswell. A 1937 statute, codified in California Labor Code section 1725, has for almost 80 years defined “alien” to mean “any person who is not a born or fully naturalized citizen of the United States.” And Labor Code section 2015 currently creates a three-fold order of preference for certain California public-works applicants: California “citizens,” U.S. “citizens,” and “aliens who are within the State at the time of making application.” So current law contemplates an employment situation where non-citizens authorized to work in the United States could be cast aside in favor of naturalized or native-born citizens.

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