Immigration debate keeps law school graduate a few steps from his dreams

http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_21083566/immigration-debate-keeps-law-school-graduate-few-steps

The endless rows of almond orchards dotting the landscape in this ranch town just outside Chico meant a future for Sergio Garcia's family.

His father, a Mexican immigrant, harvested the cash crop, shaking the trees for bounty 12 hours a day through hot summer months. As a teenager, Sergio Garcia worked alongside his father, helping out when he wasn't rising to the top of his high school class and positioning himself for college and, later, law school.

But the nation's wrenching debate over illegal immigration has now engulfed Garcia's path to success. He is at the center of an unprecedented California Supreme Court case that will determine whether the state bar can grant an undocumented immigrant a card to practice law in California.