TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – The Florida Supreme Court has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to help it decide whether people who enter or remain in the U.S. without legal permission can be attorneys in Florida.
The court on Thursday asked the department to brief answers to several questions of law. One was on whether federal law precludes the court’s admission of an undocumented immigrant to The Florida Bar.
Jose Godinez-Samperio asked the court to review his case after he was denied a license to practice law.
He was brought into the country as a child from Mexico on a visitor’s visa. He and his parents overstayed and never returned.
Godinez-Samperio graduated from Florida State University’s law school and already has passed the Florida bar examination.
Source: Associated Press
