Undocumented UCLA law grad is in a legal bind

[alp227]

Ever since he was 8 years old, Luis Perez has dedicated his life to becoming an American.

In grade school, days after his arrival from Mexico, he studied hard to master English — it quickly displaced Spanish as his dominant language.

As a teenager he woke up every morning at 5:30 a.m. for a long bus trip across the San Fernando Valley, away from a neighborhood with a bad gang problem, to a high school where being a studious young man didn't make him a social outcast.

When he eventually made it to college, it was the U.S. Constitution that grabbed hold of him, especially the Bill of Rights. And this year, his study of American institutions culminated with his graduation from UCLA School of Law.

Today, at age 29, Luis Perez has the right to call himself a juris doctor. But he can't yet call himself an American. In fact, because he's an undocumented immigrant, it will take an act of Congress to change that. But that hasn't stopped him from trying.

"People used to tell me, 'Why go to college if you can't get a real job when you graduate,'" he said. With no right to work for a large company or law firm, it seemed that only jobs in construction and or yardwork awaited him, no matter how educated he was.

Full story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tobar-20101126,0,2730603,full.column

And hear conservatives' heads EXPLODE at the idea that an illegal immigrant can overcome the consequences so much as to even get a juris doctor! Because all they do is leech off taxpayer money and be unproductive or be low-wage slaves or commit crime, right? :sarcasm:

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Support the Dream Act

It's such a no-brainer.