The California Supreme Court has ruled that an undocumented Mexican immigrant should be authorized to the State Bar and practice law, a decision already hailed as a major victory for immigrants trying to win more rights in the US.
The court ruled unanimously in favor of Sergio Garcia, who can now begin practicing law immediately despite his status as a non-US citizen. He had challenged a 1996 federal law meant to prohibit people living in the US illegally from being granted a professional license from federal agencies.
The US Justice Department has opposed Garcia’s licensing, while the California Attorney General’s office was in favor of it.
“We conclude that the fact that an undocumented immigrant’s presence in this country violates federal statuses is not itself a sufficient or persuasive basis for denying undocumented immigrants, as a class, admission to the State Bar,” wrote California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
In contrast to the federal law, California lawmakers passed a state law in October granting immigrants who were brought to America by their parents to become lawyers. California was the first state to pass such a bill – which was quickly signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown — although Florida and New York are considering similar legislation.
Garcia came to the United States with his father, an agricultural worker who obtained his US citizenship, as a 17-month-old child. He returned to Mexico when he was 9, then entered the US illegally when he was 17 years old.