FLASHBACK: VP Kamala Harris, whereas serving as California’s legal professional common, sided with an unlawful immigrant’s bid to amass a license to observe regulation in a transfer that was opposed by the Obama administration.
Harris, who is predicted to be making a go to to the southern border this week, supported in a 2012 Supreme Court docket temporary the need for 35-year-old unlawful immigrant Sergio Garcia to be granted a regulation diploma by the State Bar of California, arguing that the federal government couldn’t block him from doing so.
“No regulation or coverage prevents this courtroom from admitting Garcia to the State Bar,” Harris’ workplace wrote within the temporary. “The truth is, admitting Garcia to the Bar can be per state and federal coverage that encourages immigrants, each documented and undocumented, to contribute to society.”
Harris’ stance on the problem put her at odds with then-president Barack Obama, whose Division of Justice opposed the transfer and stated it will violate 1996 federal immigration regulation, San Jose Mercury Information reported.
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Kamala Harris butted heads with the Obama administration on immigration a number of instances (Getty Photographs)
“Within the view of the USA, (federal regulation) prohibits this courtroom from issuing a regulation license to an unlawfully current alien,” authorities attorneys wrote on the time.
The state bar, civil rights teams and Latino lawmakers within the state all got here out in help of Garcia, the report notes, although Harris’ endorsement “made the distinction,” Kevin Johnson, the dean of UC Davis’ regulation faculty, instructed the Sacramento Bee earlier this yr.
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Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Management Convention, at Ronald Reagan Constructing in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photograph/Jose Luis Magana) (AP Photograph/Jose Luis Magana)
“When the very best regulation enforcement officer of a state weighs in and says that is authorized, that is permissible, that is potential, the Supreme Court docket of the State of California listens,” stated Johnson, who additionally represented the State Bar of California in help of Garcia’s case. “She may have ducked and lined and tried to keep away from any political controversy. However she sided with the State Bar of California and Sergio Garcia, so, I respect her for that.”
Garcia in the end turned the primary undocumented immigrant to observe regulation in California after the state Supreme Court docket sided with him and laws was handed that allowed the licensing of people no matter immigration standing.
Garcia was in the end awarded the Medal of Valor by AG Harris earlier than turning into a citizen and voting for Harris on the presidential ticket together with Joe Biden in 2020, CBS Information reported.
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Immigrants line up at a distant U.S. Border Patrol processing heart after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on December 07, 2023 in Lukeville, Arizona. (Photograph by John Moore/Getty Photographs)
The Garcia scenario was one in all a number of examples the place Harris was to the left of the Obama administration, which Harris referenced throughout the 2019 presidential major when she spoke out in opposition to deportations for unlawful immigrants who have not dedicated any crimes past crossing the border.
“Properly, thanks. I’ll say — no, completely not, they shouldn’t be deported,” Harris stated. “And I really — this was one of many only a few points with which I disagreed with the administration, with whom I all the time had an excellent relationship and an excessive amount of respect.”
“However on the safe communities concern, I used to be legal professional common of California,” Harris continued. “I led the second-largest Division of Justice in the USA, second solely to the USA Division of Justice, in a state of 40 million individuals.”
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a marketing campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, U.S., August 29, 2024. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
“And on this concern, I disagreed with my president, as a result of the coverage was to permit deportation of people that by ICE’s personal definition have been non-criminals. In order legal professional common, and the chief regulation officer of the state of California, I issued a directive to the sheriffs of my state that they didn’t must adjust to detainers, and as a substitute ought to make selections based mostly on the very best pursuits of public security of their neighborhood.”
Harris reiterated her variations with Obama on unlawful immigration in 2019 interview with Univision’s Jorge Ramos the place she stated that Obama was “mistaken” when it got here to deportations and ICE detainers.
The Harris-Walz marketing campaign didn’t reply to a request for remark from Fox Information Digital.
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A number of retailers reported this week that Harris’ marketing campaign is contemplating a go to to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, though particulars haven’t been determined. The vp’s critics have been fast to dismiss the potential journey as a “political stunt.”
The newest Scripps Information/Ipsos Ballot, launched final week, reveals that roughly 54% of all respondents “strongly” or “considerably” help the concept of mass deportation, based on the ballot.
With reference to immigration on the whole, respondents favored Trump (44%) to Harris (34%) as higher capable of deal with the problem.
Fox Information Digital’s Adam Shaw and Timothy HJ Nerozzi contributed to this report
