Thread: Iowa probation blocks immigrant's historic law license

Iowa probation blocks immigrant's historic law license

Grant Rodgers, The Des Moines Register8:35 p.m. EDT June 18, 2015


(Photo: Bryon Houlgrave/Register file photo)

DES MOINES, Iowa — Cesar Adrian Vargas made history this month when a New York court paved the way for him to become the first undocumented immigrant to practice law in the state.

But the Mexican-born activist's arrest at a Des Moines political event earlier this year has put that achievement in jeopardy — at least for now.

An Iowa jury this month convicted Vargas, 31, and fellow activist Marco Malagon of Texas of trespassing for disrupting speeches by potential Republican presidential candidates at Rep. Steve King's Iowa Freedom Summit in January.

In an auditorium filled with 1,500 Republicans, Vargas interrupted New Jersey Gov.Chris Christie with a question on whether he would support deporting the activist's 70-year-old undocumented mother.



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Vargas was arrested after leaving the privately owned Hoyt-Sherman Place in Des Moines.

"I don't regret going to exercise, as the American that I feel I am, to ask my potential president a question that matters to my family," he said.

His act of civil disobedience earned Vargas a simple misdemeanor conviction and one year of probation.

But it also has temporarily derailed his bid to become a practicing lawyer, because New York policy disapproves of granting law licenses to somebody still on probation.

Vargas' Des Moines attorney asked a judge last week to release him early from his Iowa probation, in part so that his application to practice law can proceed before a New York committee that screens new lawyers for character and fitness.


Cesar Vargas, 31, at his 2011 graduation from City University of New York Law School (Photo: Special to the Register)

The move drew objections from Assistant Polk County Attorney Linda Lane, who argued that the activist hasn't proved that his short time on probation "rehabilitated" him.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, a Democrat, said Vargas should have known he could face penalties for disrupting Christie's speech on private property.

"When you decide to engage in civil disobedience, there are consequences to that," he said. "I assume he weighed all his options before he did what he did."

Supporters of Vargas' cause say that argument borders on silly for a crime that follows the tradition of peaceful protest employed by leaders such asMahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's somebody who's directly impacted by the decisions of the next president trying to ask a question about something that will affect him and his family," said Iowan Matt Hildreth, a digital director for the advocacy group America's Voice. "The fact that they're trying to grasp at straws and say he needs to be 'rehabilitated,' it's embarrassing, to be honest with you."

Vargas came from Mexico to the United States with his mother and siblings when he was 5. After high school, he graduated from a Brooklyn college, before going on to the City University of New York School of Law.

He interned in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office and clerked for a New York state Supreme Court justice.

Vargas still hopes to practice criminal and immigration law while continuing his work with an immigration policy advocacy group he co-founded, he said.



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Vargas applied to be admitted to the New York bar in 2012 after passing the bar exam. He disclosed his status as an undocumented immigrant in his application.

Twelve members of Congress and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., signed letters supporting his application, the result of Vargas' advocacy for passage of the DREAM Act, a proposal providing legal residency for undocumented immigrants who as young children came to America alongside their parents.

"When I applied, I knew we were pushing the boundaries of the law," Vargas told TheDes Moines Register, "because above all we need to make sure we are pushing the boundaries of the law to push our communities, and not just accept that the laws are stagnant."

In February 2013, Vargas got the federal government's authorization to live and work in the U.S. under President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Cesar Vargas, 31, helped found the Dream Action Coalition, an immigration policy advocacy group, after graduation from law school in 2011. (Photo: Special to the Register)


The executive action has allowed hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to America as children to avoid deportation and obtain work permits.

Months later, though, members of a New York committee on character and fitness decided that Vargas' immigration status would still prevent him from becoming a lawyer until an appellate court had a chance to review the issue.

The historic ruling from the New York court came on June 3, the first day of the Des Moines trespassing trial for Vargas and Malagon. Vargas said he could barely contain his excitement while sitting in the Polk County Courthouse.

"It was like I was in shock," he said.

With the ruling, Vargas became one of three undocumented immigrants nationwide able to practice law after taking their arguments to court, according to the New York Times.

Vargas had a choice when the Des Moines jury returned its "guilty" verdict: A $100 fine or a deferred judgment with a one-year probation period that would erase the conviction from his record if he finished it successfully. He chose the deferred judgment and probation.

He had to make the choice shortly after the verdict because he did not want to travel back to Iowa from New York City a second time for a sentencing hearing, according to Glen Downey, his attorney.

In a motion filed last week, Downey asked District Judge Carol Coppola to let Vargas off of probation or resentence him to the original fine.

Under Iowa law, any defendant can ask to be released from probation if he or she completes all the necessary requirements, Downey wrote in the motion.

Vargas is considered a low risk to reoffend, and he completed the only requirements of his probation by paying a fee and sitting for a short interview, Downey said. He doesn't have to report to a probation officer or attend classes, making it essentially a waiting game.

"He has done all that probation will ever require of him under these circumstances," he said.

No hearing has been set for arguments on the issue, and Coppola was not immediately available to speak with a reporter.

Vargas has been forthright with New York officials about the trespassing charge, and he's been told that the character and fitness committee will wait for the outcome of his request to be taken off probation.

He said he hoped he could officially become a lawyer at the state's next swear-in June 26. But with no decision on his request in Polk County, that date seems less likely.

"Generally speaking, if somebody is on probation, we wait until their probation is concluded favorably before they are sworn in," said Aprilanne Agostino, a New York state clerk of court.

In resisting Vargas' request, Lane, the prosecutor, wrote that allowing him off probation after just two weeks would be unfair to other criminal defendants.

"There is nothing that has been presented to the court to show that the defendant has been rehabilitated in less than two weeks of being on probation, nor that the community is protected from further offenses of trespass by this defendant," she wrote.

But Vargas chafes at the suggestion he needs rehabilitation for his nonviolent crime.

"When they say that I haven't been rehabilitated, I guess kind of implying that I'm a danger to society, for me it's unfortunate," Vargas said.

Others agree. Similar protests are almost a tradition at Iowa caucus events, said Hildreth, the Iowa immigration advocate.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...ense/28956635/

I don't understand how an illegal alien in our country illegally can be eligible to attend a law school, eligible to graduate, eligible to sit for a bar exam, let alone eligible for a license to practice law, even before other illegal acts or probation for them are taken into account.

I don't even understand how illegal aliens gain access to public or private property to protest without being arrested for US immigration, US labor and US civil rights violations.

Yes, of course labor violations and civil rights violations accompany immigration violations. Vargas took a seat in a college that would have otherwise gone to an American, he took a seat in a law school that would have otherwise gone to an American, and unless he's independently wealthy and has a trust fund in another country that sends him money to live on, he or his family have worked illegally in the United States and violated US labor law.

He's advocated for the Dream Act, when he shouldn't have even been in the country. He's influenced our policy against Americans for the benefit of illegal aliens. It doesn't matter who brought them here or at what age, they should all be deported and removed from our nation, not given jobs, seats in college or admitted to a state bar. It's insanity.

In fact, no one who is not a US citizen should be admitted to the bar. I'm shocked really that this is not a requirement for law school and the bar.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Iowa probation blocks immigrant's historic law license

Grant Rodgers, The Des Moines Register8:35 p.m. EDT June 18, 2015


(Photo: Bryon Houlgrave/Register file photo)

DES MOINES, Iowa — Cesar Adrian Vargas made history this month when a New York court paved the way for him to become the first undocumented immigrant to practice law in the state.

But the Mexican-born activist's arrest at a Des Moines political event earlier this year has put that achievement in jeopardy — at least for now.

An Iowa jury this month convicted Vargas, 31, and fellow activist Marco Malagon of Texas of trespassing for disrupting speeches by potential Republican presidential candidates at Rep. Steve King's Iowa Freedom Summit in January.

In an auditorium filled with 1,500 Republicans, Vargas interrupted New Jersey Gov.Chris Christie with a question on whether he would support deporting the activist's 70-year-old undocumented mother.



USA TODAY COLLEGE
5 facts you need to know about the DREAM Act


Vargas was arrested after leaving the privately owned Hoyt-Sherman Place in Des Moines.

"I don't regret going to exercise, as the American that I feel I am, to ask my potential president a question that matters to my family," he said.

His act of civil disobedience earned Vargas a simple misdemeanor conviction and one year of probation.

But it also has temporarily derailed his bid to become a practicing lawyer, because New York policy disapproves of granting law licenses to somebody still on probation.

Vargas' Des Moines attorney asked a judge last week to release him early from his Iowa probation, in part so that his application to practice law can proceed before a New York committee that screens new lawyers for character and fitness.


Cesar Vargas, 31, at his 2011 graduation from City University of New York Law School (Photo: Special to the Register)

The move drew objections from Assistant Polk County Attorney Linda Lane, who argued that the activist hasn't proved that his short time on probation "rehabilitated" him.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, a Democrat, said Vargas should have known he could face penalties for disrupting Christie's speech on private property.

"When you decide to engage in civil disobedience, there are consequences to that," he said. "I assume he weighed all his options before he did what he did."

Supporters of Vargas' cause say that argument borders on silly for a crime that follows the tradition of peaceful protest employed by leaders such asMahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's somebody who's directly impacted by the decisions of the next president trying to ask a question about something that will affect him and his family," said Iowan Matt Hildreth, a digital director for the advocacy group America's Voice. "The fact that they're trying to grasp at straws and say he needs to be 'rehabilitated,' it's embarrassing, to be honest with you."

Vargas came from Mexico to the United States with his mother and siblings when he was 5. After high school, he graduated from a Brooklyn college, before going on to the City University of New York School of Law.

He interned in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office and clerked for a New York state Supreme Court justice.

Vargas still hopes to practice criminal and immigration law while continuing his work with an immigration policy advocacy group he co-founded, he said.



USA TODAY
Ariz. leads in deferred-action application rate


Vargas applied to be admitted to the New York bar in 2012 after passing the bar exam. He disclosed his status as an undocumented immigrant in his application.

Twelve members of Congress and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., signed letters supporting his application, the result of Vargas' advocacy for passage of the DREAM Act, a proposal providing legal residency for undocumented immigrants who as young children came to America alongside their parents.

"When I applied, I knew we were pushing the boundaries of the law," Vargas told TheDes Moines Register, "because above all we need to make sure we are pushing the boundaries of the law to push our communities, and not just accept that the laws are stagnant."

In February 2013, Vargas got the federal government's authorization to live and work in the U.S. under President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Cesar Vargas, 31, helped found the Dream Action Coalition, an immigration policy advocacy group, after graduation from law school in 2011. (Photo: Special to the Register)


The executive action has allowed hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to America as children to avoid deportation and obtain work permits.

Months later, though, members of a New York committee on character and fitness decided that Vargas' immigration status would still prevent him from becoming a lawyer until an appellate court had a chance to review the issue.

The historic ruling from the New York court came on June 3, the first day of the Des Moines trespassing trial for Vargas and Malagon. Vargas said he could barely contain his excitement while sitting in the Polk County Courthouse.

"It was like I was in shock," he said.

With the ruling, Vargas became one of three undocumented immigrants nationwide able to practice law after taking their arguments to court, according to the New York Times.

Vargas had a choice when the Des Moines jury returned its "guilty" verdict: A $100 fine or a deferred judgment with a one-year probation period that would erase the conviction from his record if he finished it successfully. He chose the deferred judgment and probation.

He had to make the choice shortly after the verdict because he did not want to travel back to Iowa from New York City a second time for a sentencing hearing, according to Glen Downey, his attorney.

In a motion filed last week, Downey asked District Judge Carol Coppola to let Vargas off of probation or resentence him to the original fine.

Under Iowa law, any defendant can ask to be released from probation if he or she completes all the necessary requirements, Downey wrote in the motion.

Vargas is considered a low risk to reoffend, and he completed the only requirements of his probation by paying a fee and sitting for a short interview, Downey said. He doesn't have to report to a probation officer or attend classes, making it essentially a waiting game.

"He has done all that probation will ever require of him under these circumstances," he said.

No hearing has been set for arguments on the issue, and Coppola was not immediately available to speak with a reporter.

Vargas has been forthright with New York officials about the trespassing charge, and he's been told that the character and fitness committee will wait for the outcome of his request to be taken off probation.

He said he hoped he could officially become a lawyer at the state's next swear-in June 26. But with no decision on his request in Polk County, that date seems less likely.

"Generally speaking, if somebody is on probation, we wait until their probation is concluded favorably before they are sworn in," said Aprilanne Agostino, a New York state clerk of court.

In resisting Vargas' request, Lane, the prosecutor, wrote that allowing him off probation after just two weeks would be unfair to other criminal defendants.

"There is nothing that has been presented to the court to show that the defendant has been rehabilitated in less than two weeks of being on probation, nor that the community is protected from further offenses of trespass by this defendant," she wrote.

But Vargas chafes at the suggestion he needs rehabilitation for his nonviolent crime.

"When they say that I haven't been rehabilitated, I guess kind of implying that I'm a danger to society, for me it's unfortunate," Vargas said.

Others agree. Similar protests are almost a tradition at Iowa caucus events, said Hildreth, the Iowa immigration advocate.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...ense/28956635/

THEY WOULD NOT DO THIS IN MEXICO'S I DON'T THINK SO
WE DO HAVE' LAW & OUR GOV BETTER WAKE UP . OR YOU WILL NOT HAVE A JOB

I for one do understand how this "illegal immigrant" has become law trained. It is quite simple to grasp but very difficult to reverse, as this applicant for law license understands.

Back in the 70's when I began sounding the alarm with friends etc. that they would not be satisfied as vagrant farm laborers forever, I could not convince others that it could come to this. They expressed confidence in the U.S government to "look after us." They would not participate in raising the issue or even question intent,


Vargas, the topical individual of this story understands that when you have a problem with government you must push the envelope. It will attract attention and if there is no to little opposition you can/will win. As an alien he understands getting along as an American better than native born Americans. He is an activist and is not slothful about it, either. He stays busy and in the headlines.

What I cannot understand is Americans continuing to elect over and over again the same people and the same political parties who made it possible for Vargas and other Latino aliens to win so many arguments. Why is that?

Originally Posted by kevinssdad

I for one do understand how this "illegal immigrant" has become law trained. It is quite simple to grasp but very difficult to reverse, as this applicant for law license understands.

Back in the 70's when I began sounding the alarm with friends etc. that they would not be satisfied as vagrant farm laborers forever, I could not convince others that it could come to this. They expressed confidence in the U.S government to "look after us." They would not participate in raising the issue or even question intent,


Vargas, the topical individual of this story understands that when you have a problem with government you must push the envelope. It will attract attention and if there is no to little opposition you can/will win. As an alien he understands getting along as an American better than native born Americans. He is an activist and is not slothful about it, either. He stays busy and in the headlines.

What I cannot understand is Americans continuing to elect over and over again the same people and the same political parties who made it possible for Vargas and other Latino aliens to win so many arguments. Why is that?

Because they're on the take with the drug cartels behind this disaster.

Originally Posted by Judy

Because they're on the take with the drug cartels behind this disaster.

Judy, I hope you did not mean all American electors are addicts and dealers?

Although, It does scare hell out of me that youth susceptible to addiction has the vote. Under influence of drugs, it is impossible to make an informed, decision, IMO

Originally Posted by kevinssdad

Judy, I hope you did not mean all American electors are addicts and dealers?

Although, It does scare hell out of me that youth susceptible to addiction has the vote. Under influence of drugs, it is impossible to make an informed, decision, IMO

Oh no, it means they've been bribed through donations from the drug cartels. It has nothing to do with whether or not they use or sell drugs. The cartels have enormous funds from the illegal drug trade, especially those South of the Border, which represents about 60 to 70% of the entire illegal drug trade. They use their money to buy-up politicians to keep the borders open which the cartels need because they need the flow of drugs in and the money out as well as a massive network of illegal aliens to run the drug trade for them, people the cartels smuggled in to do just that. What a waste for them if all their workers are deported and their products blocked out and their money blocked in.

There really is no other explanation for the bizarre positions of elected officials and even appointed ones with regards to illegal immigration. It's why we have the ironic situation of an open border, amnesty for illegal aliens, for the complete free flow of drugs in and money out, while almost 1.6 million Americans are arrested every year in the War on Drugs.

These politicians have been paid big-time by the cartels to have put the United States and US citizens in this draconian situation.