If he is an articulate, intelligent, attorney, why is it difficult to understand that he is an "illegal" and what comes with that. I was born in Ohio, I can't get a license to practice law ..... "what?" ...... "well, no, I didn't go to law school."
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. – Immigrants in the country illegally can't be given a license to practice law, a question that was raised when a man who moved here from Mexico when he was 9 years old sought a license in Florida, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The court said federal law prohibits people who are unlawfully in the country from obtaining professional licenses. The justices said state law can override the federal ban, but Florida has taken no action to do so.
"Simply stated, current federal law prohibits this court from issuing a license to practice law to an unlawful or unauthorized immigrant," the court wrote.
The case involves Jose Godinez-Samperio, whose parents brought him to the United States on tourist visas and then never returned to Mexico. He graduated from New College in Florida, earned a law degree fromFlorida State University and passed the state bar in 2011.
Godinez-Samperio was represented by his former law professor, Sandy D'Alemberte, who is a former American Bar Association president.
Godinez-Samperio received a work permit in 2012 as part of President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which halted the deportation of immigrants brought to the United States as children. He is working as a paralegal at Gulf Coast Legal Services, which provides free legal help to low-income people in the Tampa Bay area.
"I'm feeling very disappointed, but more than anything I'm feeling outraged at Congress, that they have failed to take action on immigration reform, they have failed to take action on dreamers issues and actually I'm feeling outraged at the president as well," Godinez-Samperio said, noting that the U.S. Justice Department filed a brief in the case stating that the license shouldn't be granted.
"If I were able to practice law I would be able to help so many immigrants navigate the legal system," he said.
