‘Dreamers’ earning law degrees
HARTFORD, Conn.— Denia Perez’s parents brought her from Mexico to the United States illegally when she was 11 months old. Last month, she became among the first of the so-called “Dreamers” to earn a law degree. And now, she and others are using their lawyerly know-how to take on the system so they can legally practice.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows young immigrants who entered the U.S. before 2007 and before their 16th birthday to go to school under temporary renewable work permits, became law in 2012. That means the first beneficiaries have now had just enough time to graduate from high school, get a bachelor’s degree and now, in some cases, a law degree.
The problem: Most states require that practicing lawyers be U.S. citizens or have legal residency status.
Relatively few “Dreamers” have completed law degrees, said Sheila Hayre, a visiting law professor at Quinnipiac University, from whose law school Perez graduated this month. Perez is the only one currently seeking admission to Connecticut’s bar. But she and peers who are also getting law degrees are positioning themselves for a fight.
“It’s just become normal for me to take all these things into consideration when I’m planning what to do with my life,” said Perez, who plans to take the bar exam in July. “But part of me is frustrated and tired of having to jump though all these hoops to continue to live and contribute to this country.”
She testified this month, three days after graduating, before a committee of the Connecticut bar, seeking a rule change that would allow her to practice law. Several other states, including California, Florida, New York and New Jersey, have already approved similar changes to open their bars to DACA students.
And the American Bar Association, after hearing from DACA students seeking admission to the bar in several states, adopted a resolution in August that urges Congress to amend federal law, adding language that bar admission should never be denied based solely on immigration status.
“We have invested in these kids,” Hayre said. “So it makes sense to have them contributing to the economy and society as productive members of the community. In a way, it’s a no-brainer.”
But there is opposition. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow with the Heritage Foundation, said he finds it inconceivable that anyone who is not a legal resident could be permitted to take an oath to uphold the laws of the United States and join the bar.
“They are in fact in the country illegally and violating federal law,” said Spakovsky, who is a lawyer. “I wouldn’t want someone who is in the country illegally to defend me, because the Department of Homeland Security could swoop in at any time and remove my lawyer from the country, and then where would I be?”