Campaign Action
Parthiv Patel has become the first Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient to be admitted to the New Jersey Bar Association. “Today I stand here with one message: Dreamers are Americans,” Patel said. “We are fifth-graders alongside your children in the school play. We are your friends and your colleagues. And we are your doctors and your accountants, and now, in New Jersey, your lawyers.”
Patel, who passed the bar exams of both New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 2016, was administered the oath of office by the New Jersey Attorney Gurbir Grewal, the first Sikh to hold this position nationwide, on Wednesday.
"We're making it absolutely clear today that we will use all of the tools of the attorney general's office to protect the rights of 'Dreamers' like Parthiv, to enjoy that American dream, and to ensure the safety and well-being of all New Jerseyans regardless of their immigration status," Grewal said at the swearing in ceremony attended by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
According to News18, “Patel was initially denied membership of the bar because of his immigrant status, but was later admitted following a successful appeal with the help of American Civil Liberties Union.” Patel isn’t alone. In 2016, DACA recipient Cesar Vargas won a four-year legal battle to become New York state’s first undocumented lawyer.
“DACA has helped me because it has finally given me a sense of security,” Patel told Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) last year. “Being an undocumented immigrant is a stressful experience. There is this constant fear that the life you have lived for the past X amount of years can be taken away from you at anytime. Aside from the emotional benefit, DACA has also given me tangible benefits such as being able to go to law school and establish a career, marriage, and overall life with a sense of security … please put partisan politics aside, and do the right thing—the thing that most American agree one—give Dreamers legal status because Dreamers are Americans.”