The supreme court of California has granted a law
licence to an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who has lived for years in the
US.
Sergio Garcia (above), 36, arrived in the US nearly two
decades ago without papers.
He attended law school and passed the California bar
exam, but has not yet been granted a visa.
Mr Garcia challenged a 1996 law barring illegal
immigrants from receiving professional licences, a rule later changed by
Governor Jerry Brown.
The new lawyer was born in Mexico in 1977 and
brought to California less than two years later, according to a statement from
the California supreme court.
He returned to Mexico with his family at age nine,
but illegally re-entered the US when he was 17.
But because of a long backlog of applicants, Mr
Garcia has not yet been granted a visa.
He picked almonds and worked in a grocery store to
pay his way through university and Cal Northern School of Law, later passing
the California bar examination on his first attempt.
Mr Garcia subsequently challenged a 1996 federal law
barring people living in the US illegally from receiving professional licences
from government agencies or with the use of public funds.
The federal government argued the California courts
were funded by public money, thus precluding him from being granted a license.
Meanwhile, Mr Brown signed a series of immigrant
rights bills in October, including one allowing undocumented people to obtain
law license. That law took effect on 1 January.
On Thursday, the state's supreme court unanimously
ruled in favor of Mr Garcia, determining he "possesses the requisite good
moral character to qualify for a law license".
Speaking to the BBC's Newsday program, Mr Garcia
called the ruling a "landmark historic decision".
"I feel incredible, this is the best gift 2014
could bring for me," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment