Flashback: When Vice President Kamala Harris served as California's attorney general, she supported efforts to allow undocumented immigrants to practice law, something the Obama administration opposed.
Harris, who is scheduled to visit the southern border this week, wrote in a 2012 Supreme Court brief supporting the California Bar's desire to award a law degree to 35-year-old undocumented immigrant, Sergio Garcia, arguing that the government could not block it.
“No law or policy prevents this Court from admitting Mr. Garcia to the State Bar,” Harris' office said in the brief. “Indeed, admitting Mr. Garcia to the Bar would be consistent with state and federal policies that encourage immigrants, both legal and illegal, to contribute to society.”
Harris' stance on the issue put her at odds with then-President Barack Obama, whose Justice Department opposed the measure, arguing it violated a 1996 federal immigration law, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
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Kamala Harris has repeatedly clashed with the Obama administration on immigration issues. (Getty Images)
“In the United States' view, (federal law) prohibits this court from issuing law licenses to illegal aliens,” government lawyers wrote at the time.
The report noted that the State Bar Association, civil rights groups and the state's Latino lawmakers all supported Garcia, but Harris' endorsement “made the difference,” Kevin Johnson, dean of the University of California, Davis School of Law, told the Sacramento Bee earlier this year.
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Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“When the state's top law enforcement official says this is legal, this is allowed, this is possible, the California Supreme Court listens,” said Johnson, who also represented the California State Bar in supporting Garcia's lawsuit. “She could have ducked and sunk and tried to avoid the political controversy, but she stood with the California State Bar and with Sergio Garcia, and that's why I respect her.”
Garcia eventually became the first undocumented immigrant to practice law in California after the state Supreme Court sided with him and passed a law allowing individuals to practice law regardless of their immigration status.
Garcia was eventually awarded the Medal of Courage by Attorney General Harris, and later became a U.S. citizen and voted for Harris along with Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, according to CBS News.
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Migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border line up at a remote U.S. Border Patrol processing center on Dec. 7, 2023, in Lukeville, Arizona. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
Garcia's case is one of several examples of Harris's departure from the Obama administration, a position she also cited during the 2019 presidential primary when she voiced her opposition to deporting illegal immigrants who have committed no crime other than crossing the border.
“Thank you. I will say this: absolutely, they should not be deported,” Harris said. “And in fact, this is one of the few issues where I have disagreed with the administration. I've always had a great relationship with the administration and a great deal of respect.”
“But on the issue of safe communities, I was attorney general of California,” Harris continued, “leading a state of 40 million people and the second-largest Department of Justice in the nation, after the U.S. Department of Justice.”
Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, USA, August 29, 2024. (Reuters/Elisabeth Franz)
“And on this issue, I disagreed with the president because that policy would have allowed ICE to deport people who, by their own definition, are non-criminals. So as Attorney General and as California's chief legal officer, I have directed our state's sheriffs that they do not have to comply with detention orders, but instead make decisions based on the best interest of public safety in their communities.”
In a 2019 interview with Univision's Jorge Ramos, Harris reiterated her differences with Obama over illegal immigration, saying the president was “wrong” when it came to deportations and ICE detention.
The Harris-Waltz campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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Multiple media outlets reported this week that Harris' team was considering a visit to the US-Mexico border on Friday, though details have yet to be finalized. Critics of the vice president have dismissed the trip as a “political ploy.”
The latest Scripps News/Ipsos poll, released last week, found that about 54 percent of respondents “strongly” or “somewhat” support the idea of mass deportations.
On immigration overall, respondents rated Trump (44%) as better equipped to handle the issue than Harris (34%).
Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw and Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.
