Lawmakers back immigrant’s bid to become lawyer
SACRAMENTO, Calif - A man in a legal fight to become an attorney in California despite being brought to the United States illegally as a child now has the support of the state Assembly.
Legislators passed a resolution 48-24 Monday on a party-line vote. It commends Sergio Garcia, 35, of Durham and declares that immigration status should not prohibit someone from getting a law license. Unlike a bill, a resolution merely states the Legislature's intent.
Garcia said in a July interview that his parents brought him to the United States illegally from Mexico as a toddler. He applied for legal residency in 1995 and in 2009 received a degree from Cal Northern School of Law in Chico.
He passed the bar exam. His attempt to get a license has been endorsed by the State Bar of California. But the state Supreme Court, which approves law licenses, wants to hear arguments about whether or not they can accept Garcia because of his immigration status.
"He's done everything our society has asked of him," Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, the resolution's sponsor, said Monday. "All we are saying is being undocumented should not prohibit you from getting your law license."
