Undocumented UCLA law grad is in a legal bind

[Liberal_in_LA]

Undocumented UCLA law grad is in a legal bind

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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.

"If I had listened to those people, I wouldn't have done anything with my life," he told me.

Perez is the first undocumented immigrant to graduate from UCLA's law school. He's taking the bar exam in January. "I'm spending my Christmas with the books," he told me.

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

[Alameda]

1. I hope there is some way he can become legalized....

could Obama do it for him?

[xxqqqzme]

2. I have a good friend who teaches

high school level math to the kids who fail to comply w/ the structure of the educational system in Orange County. Many of the kids in her classes are just like the young man in this article. They either came here as small children or were born here to undocumented parents. She despairs each year because, as her students near graduation, she knows they will find it difficult to get jobs because there is no way for them to get social security numbers. How do undocumented kids even get into college w/o a Soc Sec number?

The Dream Act would go a long way to solve this problems and keep these kids from being targets for exploitation. It would give them future. It will make our communities stronger as a result.

[leveymg]

3. They'll give the Dream Act a vote in the next month or so.

If it doesn't pass, he could work for a foreign firm abroad, but wouldn't be able to come back without an approved visa petition and a waiver of excludability. That would be a difficult move, as he's been here practically his entire life.

[bahrbearian]

4. I find it ironic that a Law Grad would be ill-legal

first things first. Get your house in-order.