According to the newspaper, USA Today, illegal immigrants who were brought to the US as children and have graduated from law schools in California, Florida and New York are trying to gain entry to state bars so they can practise as lawyers – something which has so far been prevented.

Future generations

The individual case of Sergio Garcia -- the 35-year-old who crossed into the US from Mexico with his parents when he was just 17 months old -- is set to be decided, as he had been told he could not join the state bar after graduating from Chicago State University and Cal Northern School of Law because he had indicated in his application that he was in the country illegally (see What’s New, 17 May).
‘This case stopped being about me a long time ago,’ commented Mr Garcia -- who is working alongside his father as a beekeeper until the case is resolved. He told the newspaper: ‘The outcome is going to have a major impact on future generations of attorneys and people in my situation. At least they will have good guidance.’
Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates lower level immigration matters, said: ‘There's a certain level of absurdity to someone trying to practise law when they're in violation of the law… It's unfortunate that children find themselves in these situations due to the decisions that their parents made. But that's unfortunately just the way it works. We all suffer from poor decisions that our parents made.’