DACA Recipient can practice law in Florida
Undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children can become a lawyer in good standing in the state of Florida. Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed into law a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to receive a law license as long as certain conditions are met. The law is a victory for Jose Godinez-Samperio, who was granted relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and other young people like him who are in the country illegally. Godinez-Samperio’s family left Mexico when he was 9 and remained in the country after their visas expired. Godinez-Samperio, a high school valedictorian who graduated with honors from law school at Florida State University, passed the state bar exam. Before the law was passed, the Florida Supreme Court denied him a license to practice law. California had previusly passed a similar law, spurred on by the case of Sergio Garcia, an undocumented immigrant now licensed to practice law in the Golden State.
Gov. Scott also signed into law FLA. STAT. § 1009.26 (2014), according resident tuition to the undocumented.