How a California man became the first undocumented immigrant to practice law in the state
CHICO – It is a profile of perseverance, putting a face on the fight over illegal immigration and the search for solutions.
Sergio Garcia is an attorney who cites his own story as an example, mass deportations are a misplaced political fight. He became the first undocumented immigrant to practice law in California.
Garcia can now walk into his own law firm in Chico, California, only after he went up against the full weight of the U.S. federal government as an undocumented immigrant and won.
"You're living the American Dream," CBS News Sacramento's reporter Steve Large said.
"Definitely," Garcia said. "Definitely. And I would say despite everything that's going on, despite the struggles, despite the sad division that we're living these days, the American Dream is still possible. It's very much alive."
Garcia's undocumented immigration story starts when he was a child. His parents crossed into the U.S. from Mexico illegally to work in the Chico almond orchards.
Garcia had grand plans to become an attorney.
He enrolled in law school, before telling his mother he would have to quit because he could no longer afford it.
"My mom's like, 'How much are you missing—you know, what do you need,'" Garcia said. "I'm like, $3,000 short, and you know she goes to her room and comes back a couple minutes later with a shoe box right?"
Inside that shoe box were small bills.
"Just a bunch of ones," Garcia said.
There were enough to cover the $3,000 tuition.
"I just felt like, OK, now I'm not spending my own money for this semester, now it's my mom's money that she probably took a lifetime saving, you know," Garcia said.
Garcia graduated from law school and passed the bar. He was still banned from practicing law because of his undocumented status.
His unprecedented legal case unfolded while Barack Obama was president.
Obama had just announced a DACA policy providing temporary protections for undocumented immigrants like Garcia, who had come to the U.S. as children.
Still, Obama's justice department fought Garcia in court, seeking to keep him from becoming an attorney.
"And it was just crushing," Garcia said. "It was one of those moments where I kind of fell on my knees again and was like, where did that come from?"
Federal immigration statistics show former President Obama oversaw more deportations of undocumented immigrants in both his terms than Donald Trump in his first term.
Garcia eventually beat Obama's justice department in 2014 after bi-partisan-backed state legislation allowed undocumented immigrants to practice in California.
He hired a mariachi band for his swearing-in to the California bar on the capitol steps. His mom and dad were there at the ceremony.
A headline that day read, "Lawyer's struggle ends in triumph." He keeps it framed in his office.
"This one's hard for me because that's my mom," Garcia said, pointing out the newspaper photo.
The stacks of paperwork on Garcia's desk now show a bustling business.
He's started a foundation to give money to a new generation of struggling students, no matter their immigration status.
"Especially when they're in a situation when they're risking having to drop out of college," Garcia said.
"You're trying to provide that shoebox, for students now," Large said.
"Yeah, yeah," Garcia said.
This once-undocumented dream chaser is now living his dream.
Garcia is now a U.S. citizen after first applying for legal status back in 1994.
His law firm is thriving. He has even opened a second office in Los Angeles.
