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FLASHBACK: VP Kamala Harris, while serving as California’s attorney general, sided with an illegal immigrant’s bid to acquire a license to practice law in a move that was opposed by the Obama administration.
Harris, who is expected to be making a visit to the southern border this week, supported in a 2012 Supreme Court brief the desire for 35-year-old illegal immigrant Sergio Garcia to be granted a law degree by the State Bar of California, arguing that the government could not block him from doing so.
“No law or policy prevents this court from admitting Garcia to the State Bar,” Harris’ office wrote in the brief. “In fact, admitting Garcia to the Bar would be consistent with state and federal policy that encourages immigrants, both documented and undocumented, to contribute to society.”
Harris’ stance on the issue put her at odds with then-president Barack Obama, whose Department of Justice opposed the move and said it would violate 1996 federal immigration law, San Jose Mercury News reported.
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Kamala Harris butted heads with the Obama administration on immigration several times (Getty Images)
“In the view of the United States, (federal law) prohibits this court from issuing a law license to an unlawfully present alien,” government lawyers wrote at the time.
The state bar, civil rights groups and Latino lawmakers in the state all came out in support of Garcia, the report notes, though Harris’ endorsement “made the difference,” Kevin Johnson, the dean of UC Davis’ law school, told the Sacramento Bee earlier this year.
HARRIS SHIFTS KEY POSITIONS ON BORDER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AS CAMPAIGN PROMISES ‘PRAGMATIC’ APPROACH
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference, at Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis…
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