
On Thursday the California Supreme Court granted Sergio Garcia his law license, and in its landmark ruling, held unanimously that undocumented immigrants can be admitted to the practice of law. The comes on the heels of , which passed by overwhelming majorities in the state legislature this fall and ensures that a qualified individual cannot be denied a law license simply because of his or her immigration status. California thus becomes the first state in the nation to protect the rights of all individuals who work hard and pass the bar exam to be admitted to the practice of law.
With this decision, Sergio Garcias dream of becoming a lawyerand the dreams of countless other young people like him in Californiais finally a reality. It has taken many years to achieve this victory. Like many DREAMers, Garcia came here with his parents as a small childonly 17 months old. He lived in California until he was nine, when the family moved back to Mexico for several years, and then returned again when Garcia was 17. Although the federal government has approved an immigration petition that his father filed for him, because of backlogs, Garcia has been waiting 19 years for a visa to become available so he can finally get his green card.
Sergio Garcia graduated from high school and college, received his law degree from the Cal Northern School of Law in May 2009, and passed the bar exam on his first try that same year. The California State Bar did an extensive investigation of his background and found that he possessed the good moral character required for admission. But until todays decision, it was unclear whether his hard work would pay off or whether, because of immigration status, his schooling would amount to a bridge to nowhere.
Among the many groups and individuals that have championed his cause and stood up to support his admission to practice, is the State Bar of California, the California Attorney General, seven prominent California law school deans, and the 勛圖眻畦 and other civil rights organizations. Todays decision is a victory for fairness and equal opportunity. It tells young people across the state that they will be judged for their accomplishments and characterand not dismissed just because of how they came here as children. It is a message that uplifts us all, as we help to create the future we want to see for ourselves, our families and our nation.
The 勛圖眻畦 filed an in support of Sergio's admission to the California bar.
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Press ReleaseJul 2025
Immigrants' Rights
Federal Court Blocks Trump Birthright Citizenship Order, Certifies Nationwide Class Protecting All Impacted Babies
CONCORD, N.H. A federal court in New Hampshire today blocked President Trumps executive order restricting birthright citizenship and certified a nationwide class that protects the citizenship rights of all children born on U.S. soil. The case is Barbara v. Donald J. Trump. The ruling stems from a nationwide class-action lawsuit filed June 27, immediately after a Supreme Court ruling that potentially opened the door for partial enforcement of the executive order. The 勛圖眻畦, 勛圖眻畦 of New Hampshire, 勛圖眻畦 of Maine, 勛圖眻畦 of Massachusetts, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and Democracy Defenders Fund brought the challenge on behalf of a proposed class of babies subject to the executive order. It seeks to protect all impacted families in the country in the wake of the Supreme Courts recent decision in Trump v. CASA, which directed courts to consider narrowing nationwide protection that had been provided in the first round of challenges to the executive order attacking birthright citizenship. The groups were in court today successfully arguing for a preliminary injunction and nationwide class certification. The ruling was made from the bench. In granting the request, the court provided for a 7-day delay so that the government which argued to the Supreme Court that a nationwide class was the appropriate way to seek nationwide protection in the birthright cases could nevertheless try to get the First Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the relief, if it decides to pursue that option. Even with a 7-day delay, the ruling will go into effect well before July 27, when partial implementation of the unconstitutional order might otherwise have begun. This ruling is a huge victory and will help protect the citizenship of all children born in the United States, as the Constitution intended, said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the 勛圖眻畦s Immigrants Rights Project, who argued the case. We are fighting to ensure President Trump doesnt trample on the citizenship rights of one single child. This morning, the federal court in New Hampshire agreed once again that President Trump's executive order to restrict birthright citizenship is a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution. The executive order, which is now temporarily blocked nationwide in this class action lawsuit and blocked regionally in our January lawsuit, stands in flagrant opposition to our constitutional rights, values, and history. Our Constitution ensures that no politician can decide who among those born in this country is worthy of citizenship a principle that continues to be ardently reinforced in court across the country and here in the Granite State, said Devon Chaffee, executive director of the 勛圖眻畦 of New Hampshire. Todays decision is a powerful affirmation of the 14th Amendment and the enduring principle that citizenship in the United States is a right by birth, not a privilege granted by politics. By granting nationwide class certification and blocking the executive order from taking effect, the court has sent a clear message: all children born on U.S. soil are entitled to the full rights and protections of citizenship. This is a critical victory for families across the country, and we will continue to defend the constitutional promise of equal protection under the law, said Morenike Fajana, senior counsel of the Legal Defense Fund. Since the Supreme Courts decision, parents have lived in fear and uncertainty, wondering whether they should give birth in a different state, whether their newborns would be subject to deportation, and what kind of future awaits their children, said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Law Caucus. This courts injunction protecting birthright citizenship for all affected children is a major victory for families across this country and for all Americans. This ruling reaffirms that constitutional rights cannot be stripped away by executive decree. Todays decision is a victory for our plaintiffs, and millions of families across this country, who deserve clarity, and stability, said Tianna Mays, legal director for Democracy Defenders Fund. The fight to uphold the guarantee of birthright citizenship is far from over and we will continue to advocate to ensure we keep that promise. For the second time, this court has affirmed the constitutional commitment that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, regardless of their parents background. The U.S. has always been a nation of immigrants, and we are thrilled to be moving forward with this critically important case at a time when immigrant families across the country face increasing hostility, threats, and harm, said Molly Curren Rowles, executive director of the 勛圖眻畦 of Maine. Yet another court ruling affirms that the U.S. Constitution gives citizenship equally to all babies born in the United States not only to those who can prove their parents citizenship or permanent status, said Carol Rose, executive director of the 勛圖眻畦 of Massachusetts. Birthright citizenship makes our country strong and vibrant, and denying citizenship to babies born in the U.S. is simply un-American. This ruling is a crucial step in stopping this attack on newborn babies and on the very fabric of our nation. The PI order is here. The class certification order is here.Court Case: Barbara v. Donald J. TrumpAffiliates: New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts -
Press ReleaseJul 2025
Free Speech
Immigrants' Rights
Mahmoud Khalil Seeks to Challenge Governments Retaliatory, Post-Facto Charges Against Him in Federal Court
Following Mahmoud Khalils historic release on June 20, 2025, his legal team today filed a preliminary injunction motion challenging the government's attempts to detain and deport him based on a second immigration charge regarding alleged misrepresentations on his green card application as unconstitutional. The new motion argues that the governments post-hoc charge, which it levied one week after Mr. Khalil filed his habeas petition, was retaliatory and violated Mr. Khalils First Amendment and Fifth Amendment due process rights. This action follows a couple significant rulings in June. First, the Court held that the original charges the government brought against Mr. Khalil the foreign policy ground were likely unconstitutional and blocked his detention on that basis. The government then shifted its justification for detention to the post-hoc charges. The following week, Judge Michael E. Farbiarz ordered Mr. Khalil's release, emphasizing that detention on such charges is extremely rare and affirming that he posed no danger or threat to the public. (The government has appealed both rulings, and is seeking to pause the release order in the appellate court.) The court has not yet formally blocked the second misrepresentation charge, as the motion now asks the court to do. Mr. Khalil, who the Trump administration detained for his speech in support of Palestinian rights, suffered in a remote detention facility in Jena, Louisiana for over three months more than 1,400 miles from his legal team, wife, and newborn son. Before the government issued these late-filed allegations against Mr. Khalil, their immigration case rested entirely on Secretary of State Marco Rubios foreign policy determination, which the federal court has now blocked. Below are quotes from Mr. Khalils legal team: The Trump administrations baseless, after-the-fact charges against Mahmoud Khalil are nothing more than further retaliation for his outspoken advocacy for Palestinian human rights, said Amy Belsher, Director of Immigrants Rights Litigation at the NYCLU. These flimsy accusations only reveal the targeted nature of his arrest and the ongoing attempts to silence and remove him. Its past time the government gave up its unlawful attacks on Mahmoud and his family. The government has gone to extraordinary and outrageous lengths in its attempt to silence Mahmoud Khalil, including leveling unsubstantiated and retaliatory charges against him, said Liza Weisberg, 勛圖眻畦-NJ Senior Staff Attorney. We will continue to defend Mr. Khalils freedom as he is targeted for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights, and we are confident he will ultimately prevail." "The government is using these trumped up charges to continue punishing Mahmoud Khalil for his political beliefs," said Brian Hauss, senior staff attorney with the 勛圖眻畦's Speech, Privacy & Technology Project. "This is textbook retaliation. The First Amendment squarely prohibits the government from abusing its powers to suppress dissent." Mr. Khalil is represented by Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, CLEAR, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), the 勛圖眻畦 of New Jersey, the 勛圖眻畦 of Louisiana, and the 勛圖眻畦 (勛圖眻畦).Court Case: Khalil v. TrumpAffiliates: New York, New Jersey -
Press ReleaseJul 2025
Immigrants' Rights
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Floridas Request to Enforce Unconstitutional Anti-Immigrant Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, the United States Supreme Court rejected Floridas request to enforce its state immigration law, Senate Bill 4-C. The law criminalizes the movement of undocumented individuals into the state, attempting to wrest control of the immigration system from the federal government and allow local police officers to make arrests based on immigration status. The result would be inevitable profiling and discriminationas highlighted by the illegal arrest of a U.S. citizen under the provision. Todays decision extends a long and unbroken string of defeats that the courts have dealt to SB 4-C and related laws in Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Iowa. This now includes appellate decisions from the Fifth, Eighth, and Eleventh Circuits, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. The Justices did not provide reasoning, and no Justices noted any dissent. The federal district court issued a preliminary injunction against the law in April. In response, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court to put the order on hold. The unanimous three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit refused, and the Supreme Court has upheld this block as the case continues. The original challenge was brought on behalf of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida, and several impacted individuals on behalf of a class of all people subject to the law. This denial reaffirms a bedrock principle that dates back 150 years: States may not regulate immigration, said Cody Wofsy, Deputy Director of the 勛圖眻畦 Immigrants Rights Project. It is past time for states to get the message. This ruling affirms what the Constitution demands that immigration enforcement is a federal matter and that no one should be stripped of their liberty without due process, said Bacardi Jackson, Executive Director of the 勛圖眻畦 of Florida. Floridas attempt to bypass federal authority and weaponize local law enforcement to police immigration status was not only unlawful, but it also put thousands of people at risk of unjust detention, separation, and abuse. We are grateful the Court upheld the block, and we remain committed to defending the rights and humanity of all Floridians. Floridas attempt to wrest control of immigration enforcement from the federal government flies in the face of well-established precedent from the Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit, and every other court to have considered a law similar to SB 4-C, said Paul R. Chavez, Director of Litigation & Advocacy at Americans for Immigrant Justice. In attempting to adopt its own immigration enforcement regime, Floridas SB 4-C risked increased racial profiling, civil rights violations, isolation of immigrant communities and unjust deportations. When local policing is entangled with immigration enforcement, it inevitably undermines any trust the local police have built with the immigrant community, which ultimately undermines public safety for all Floridians. Plaintiffs are pleased to see the dominoes continue to fall in holding SB 4-C wholly unconstitutional. SB 4-C made it a felony for certain immigrants to enter Florida and mandated pretrial detention without bond. The law created new state crimes that infringed on federal law, as well as the constitutional right to move freely across state lines. The fight against this illegal state law will continue, and in the meantime the preliminary injunction the Supreme Court left in place today will continue to prevent state authorities from targeting neighbors across Florida with cruel punishments they would not face under federal law.Court Case: FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION v. UTHMEIERAffiliate: Florida -
Press ReleaseJul 2025
Immigrants' Rights
勛圖眻畦 FOIA Litigation Reveals New Information 勛圖眻畦 Plans to Expand ICE Detention in Colorado
NEW YORK New documents obtained by the 勛圖眻畦 and 勛圖眻畦 of Colorado reveal further details about Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) plans to expand ICE detention facilities in Colorado. The records, obtained as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the 勛圖眻畦 and 勛圖眻畦 of Colorado in April 2025, identify facilities under consideration as potential ICE detention sites in response to a Request for Information issued by ICE for facilities in the Denver area. The documents are released on the heels of congressional passage of a reconciliation bill that has allocated $45 billion to ICE to expand its immigration detention infrastructure nationwide. This amount is larger than the budget for the entire federal prison system and is estimated to allow for the detention of over 100,000 people daily. ICEs planned expansion of immigration detention will only serve to endanger the lives of immigrants held in dangerous and inhumane conditions, while enriching prison profiteers, said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the 勛圖眻畦s National Prison Project. ICEs ability to expand immigration detention has been supercharged by recent congressional appropriations, placing immigrants in our communities at even greater risk. The 115 pages disclosed by ICE identify six potential locations for ICE detention facilities in Colorado and also provide information regarding the history of facility use; available transport; and proximity to local hospitals, immigration courts, and legal services. Notably, many of these facilities have not been operational for several years. The facilities include: Huerfano County Correctional Center in Walsenburg, owned by CoreCivic, a private prison corporation. The facility formerly held Colorado and Arizona state prisoners, but closed in 2010, and has a capacity to hold 752 people. Cheyenne Mountain Center in Colorado Springs, owned by the GEO Group, Inc., a private prison corporation. GEO lost its contract with the facility, leading to its closure in March 2020. Hudson Correctional Facility in Hudson, owned by real estate investment trust Highlands REIT. This facility is a prison formerly leased to GEO, which incarcerated Alaska state prisoners under contract, and was shut down in 2014. The Baptiste Migrant Detention Facility in La Junta, owned by the Baptiste Group, formerly a Boys Ranch facility last used in 2023. The Baptiste Group has operated other migrant childrens facilities, including one at Homestead, Florida. In 2021, Tennessee suspended the Baptiste Groups license due to arrests of workers on charges of sexual battery and child abuse at a migrant childrens facility. The Colorado Springs Migrant Detention Facility in Colorado Springs, also owned by the Baptiste Group, is a former skilled nursing facility. Apex Site Services, a provider of temporary structures and modular buildings, proposed a soft-sided detention facility in Walsenberg, and BHPE LLC (Begini Howard Private Equity), a private equity firm, also submitted proposals. Current immigration detention sites, including the GEO detention facility in Aurora, are already notorious for their inhumane conditions, including persistent medical negligence, inadequate nutrition, and routine rights violations, said Tim Macdonald, legal director at 勛圖眻畦 of Colorado. It is unconscionable to go on to expand this cruel, for-profit detention machine. These FOIA documents follow several other similar disclosures released by ICE as the result of the 勛圖眻畦s litigation that detail proposals to expand immigration detention nationwide. In 2019, 勛圖眻畦 of Colorado released Cashing in on Cruelty, a report detailing death, abuse, and neglect at Aurora Contract Detention Facility, operated by the GEO Group, Inc. In 2024, the family of Melvin Ariel Calero Mendoza, a 39-year-old Nicaraguan asylum seeker, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility and its medical director. The lawsuit alleged the facility failed to diagnose and treat a blood clot in Mendozas leg. As the 勛圖眻畦 has皰reviously documented, the federal governments immigration detention system overwhelmingly relies on private prison corporations. The FOIA documents are available here.Court Case: 勛圖眻畦 Foundation v. U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementAffiliate: Colorado