(Photo / Kevin Dietsch)
Then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris sided against the Obama administration when helping a man become the country’s first licensed attorney without lawful immigration status.
Harris proved instrumental in helping an undocumented immigrant’s legal fight to obtain a law license more than a decade ago, according to the Sacramento Bee. Revelations of her past work further highlight how much Harris has shifted on immigration issues since securing her party’s nomination to be the next president of the United States.
Sergio Garcia, a then-35-year-old Mexican national living in the U.S. unlawfully, was waging a courtroom battle in 2012 to be a licensed attorney, according to the Mercury News. Harris, serving as the state’s top attorney at the time, issued an amicus brief in support of Garcia’s bid to be an attorney.
“No law or policy prevents this court from admitting Garcia to the State Bar,” her office wrote at the time. “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.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris (2nd-L) tours the El Paso Border Patrol Station, on June 25, 2021 in El Paso, Texas. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
The then-California attorney general even provided a lawyer from her office to help Garcia argue his case in front of the state’s Supreme Court.
Harris’ legal assistance put her at odds with the Obama administration, which had argued that awarding a California law license to an illegal immigrant would violate federal immigration law.
“In the view of the United States, (federal law) prohibits this court from issuing a law license to an unlawfully present alien,” lawyers with the Justice Department wrote in a brief filed with the California Supreme Court, according to the Mercury News.
Garcia ultimately prevailed in his legal battle after the California Supreme Court unanimously decided in his favor, according to the Sacramento Bee. Harris’ efforts “made the difference” in his legal victory, according to Kevin Johnson, the dean of UC Davis’ law school and one of the lawyers who represented the State Bar of California for Garcia.
“When the highest law enforcement officer of a state weighs in and says this is legal, this is permissible, this is possible, the Supreme Court of the State of California listens,” Johnson said to the Sacramento Bee. “She could have ducked and covered and tried to avoid any political controversy.”
“But she sided with the State Bar of California and Sergio Garcia, so, I respect her for that,” he continued.
Roughly two years after Harris provided support for Garcia’s efforts, she invited him to her office and awarded him a medal of valor, according to the Sacramento Bee.
This was not the first time Harris had given direct assistance to illegal migrants in California. As the San Francisco attorney general, she led an employment program, known as “Back on Track,” that kept criminals out of prison and provided them job training — but that program inadvertently included illegal immigrants.
Harris claimed that the inclusion of illegal migrants into Back on Track was “a flaw in the design” upon the discovery that one criminal illegal migrant who attempted to mow down a woman with his car had previously avoided prison after he was selected for the program. The female victim has since said that incident was a “red pill” moment for her, changing her from a self-described liberal to a GOP voter.
As a U.S. senator for California, Harris once compared Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the Ku Klux Klan during a confirmation hearing. During a June 2018 media interview, she suggested the agency should be rebuilt “from scratch.”
Harris had previously called President Donald Trump’s border wall “un-American” and a “stupid waste of money.” In 2019, she pledged her support for taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries for illegal migrants being held in ICE detention, and she was also among the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates who raised their hands when asked if they supported the decriminalization of unlawful border crossings.
However, the presidential candidate has since taken a more hawkish stance on immigration, saying in her first sit-down interview that she believed in “consequence” for those who cross the border illegally, and her campaign has launched ads suggesting she would be tough on border security.
