Disbar and Deport the Illegal Legal

Supreme Court Ignore Supreme Law of Law (Source: Jamison Wieser)

California resident Sergio Garcia went to law school, passed the California State Bar exam, celebrated his remarkable achievement with friends and family, then two weeks later received a notice from the state bar association.

“Your status is in error.”

What was the error?

Sergio Garcia is not an American citizen. He has lived in the United States for the past twenty years, and eight years prior, his parents had brought him to the United States as a seventeen-month old baby,  but he lives in this country as an undocumented immigrant. To be frank, he is an illegal immigrant.

He was born in Mexico, and while his father ultimately received permanent resident status, his son Sergio (and by extension his family) did not receive the same legal standing. After nineteen years waiting for his green card, Sergio still has not achieved citizenship.

The backlog for Mexican nationals seeking American citizenship is enormous, and despite the efforts of Congress to speed up enrollment for foreign nationals with graduate degrees to expedite their immigration status,

Following lengthy appeals, with tears in his eyes and sporadic comments on “somos todos Sergio” on his Facebook page, Garcia received his law practice per a recent ruling from the California Supreme Court.

To be blunt, the Court’s decision to permit Mr. Garcia to practice law is not just offensive, but a dysfunctional sign of the times in our state, where the rule of law has given way to the rule by feelings and sentiments.

I have shared many times before: the immigration process should be as simple as enter the country, present your papers, pass a health screening and a background check, and be free to live and thrive through your own will and intrepid spirit. However, the massive growth of the welfare state, with public assistance available to so many, yet paid by so few, and fewer year by year, a system of free immigration to welfare is unfeasible and unsustainable.

At this time, especially with the current laws in place, legal immigration is a process which must be respected.

Despite the arguments from liberal activists, which contend that opponents of amnesty or a pathway to citizenship are racist or bigoted for their views, both sides of the political spectrum do recognize the importance of health, efficient, and effective immigration system. Racism, xenophobia are not the roots of resistance. Instead, the concerns about the financial drain on our health and education facilities, coupled with the overgenerous public benefits programs in the state of California, are worrying many residents.

But most of all, the question of the rule of law cannot be ignored. For individuals to skirt the legal process, however protracted, and assume many of the privileges of citizenship, including a driver’s license or a law license for that matter, represents an unjust slap in the face to the millions of legal immigrants who paid the fees, passed the tests, and obeyed all the laws to become legal residents of the United States.

The rule of law issue has a deeper, more complex element, magnified by the reinstated membership of Sergio Garcia to the state bar. As an illegal immigrant, what moral standing can Garcia offer? Let that troubling irony sink in: how can a lawbreaker by a lawful representative for anyone? How dare he presume to advise anyone in the state of California regarding any matter, when he by his very presence is breaking the law?

The Chief Justice of the CA Supreme Court, rendered the following indefensible justification for Garcia’s illegal legal certification:

 Under these circumstances, we conclude that the fact that an undocumented immigrant's presence in this country violates federal statutes is not itself a sufficient or persuasive basis for denying undocumented immigrants, as a class, admission to the State Bar.”

If the federal laws have no bearing, then why have lawyers? If a state Supreme Court can ignore by judicial fiat to enforce certain laws at the expense of others, then what the hell are we paying them for? Why have any lawyers if the law is not serious enough to be taken seriously? By extension, rampant illegal immigration ultimately undermines the very purpose of those immigrating: a nation with the rule of law, where public safety and the enforcement of statue and contract remain intact.

Further questions which we must ask go beyond, and further back besides the arrogant rulings from the California State Supreme Court. Why was Garcia permitted to enroll in law school in the first place? Or in any public school to attain the necessary credentials to apply to a law school?

The arguments from state legislators, humanitarians, and special interests pressing amnesty at all costs, suggest that young illegals such as Garcia had no choice regarding their status. While such circumstances are unfortunate, the collapse of the rule of law, represented by granting a legal practice to an illegal immigrant, is not a justified response for rectifying the situation. Rewarding lawbreakers, based on status or action, will foment disturbing outcomes.

Garcia should be disbarred and deported, and a real dialogue on immigration reform, free of emotional race-baiting, must ensue.