Dean Johnson Comments for Southern California Public Radio on Immigrant Licensing Law
Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented for Southern California Public Radio Station KPCC on a new state law that allows undocumented immigrants to apply for professional licenses. The law, SB 1159, requires the state's 39 professional licensing boards to accept applications from immigrants using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers rather than social security numbers.
"The law originally was passed in response to the Sergio Garcia case," said Dean Johnson, referring to a state Supreme Court decision that allowed a law school graduate who didn't have legal status to apply for a license to practice law. "I think the idea was, ‘well, if lawyers shouldn't be required to be legal permanent residents...other kinds of professionals shouldn't be limited as well,'" Johnson said.
Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.