New York man born in Mexico will become first undocumented student to get law license in state

BY ERICA PEARSON
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, June 3, 2015, 6:45 PM

MARCUS SANTOS/ FOR THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Cesar Vargas was a 5-year-old when he came to the U.S. He will become the first undocumented law graduate to get a law license in New York State.


A Staten Island man who came to the U.S. illegally as a 5-year-old won his fight Wednesday to practice law in New York State.

Cesar Vargas, who graduated from CUNY School of Law and passed the state’s bar exam on his first try, is now set to become the first undocumented law graduate to get his New York law license.

“NY, my home, OFFICIALLY says I can be a licensed lawyer!” an overjoyed Vargas, 31, posted to his personal Facebook page Wednesday.

After considering it for nearly three years, the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division in Brooklyn approved Vargas’ application to the New York State bar. Five judges agreed that Vargas’ immigration status “does not reflect adversely upon his general fitness to practice law.”

Vargas, who has a temporary reprieve from deportation and a work permit under President Obama’s deferred action program, needed to convince the court that he met the state’s requirements for good character and general fitness.

When he sent in his application to the bar, he knew that his answers to two questions would likely make reviewers pause:

“In what country were you born?” and “What is your immigration status?” the application asked.

“I put ‘Mexico’ and ‘Without status, but see cover letter,’” he told the Daily News when he first applied.
New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and CUNY School of Law Dean Michelle Anderson were among those who testified and filed papers supporting Vargas.

The New York court’s ruling Wednesday found that immigrants with temporary permission to stay, like Vargas, aren’t necessarily barred by federal rules that prohibit states from giving undocumented immigrants professional licenses. Courts as well as state legislatures can overrule this, the judges said.

“It’s a monumental decision of national importance,” said Jose Perez, associate general counsel at legal group LatinoJustice, which represented Vargas.

Courts across the country have been divided on this issue — California’s highest court granted an undocumented man named Sergio Garcia a law license, but the Florida Supreme Court ruled last year that law school graduate Jose Godinez-Samperio could not practice law because of his immigration status.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2245737