As of October 1 of this year, citizenship or immigration status is no longer considered to deny a license to practice law in New Mexico.
The Supreme Court of the State of New Mexico published a new rule, which came into effect on October 1, 2022, which details that citizenship or immigration status will not be a significant factor in denying a license to practice law in the condition.
This benefits certain specific groups of immigrants, for example, Deferred Action (DACA) beneficiaries, who although they can obtain an employment authorization document (EAD), it is not enough to practice as lawyers.
In other words, thousands of DACA recipients specialize in various professions in which they cannot practice due to laws that prohibit it. For example, careers related to medicine, law, certified electricians, teachers, among others. However, some states have their own regulations, such as New Mexico.
New Mexico has offered conditional legal licenses for DACA recipients since 2017, and in 2020 Bill 137 in the New Mexico Senate proposed the removal of immigration status as a barrier to licensing or certification of certain professions.
And now, after the decision of the State Supreme Court, people who meet the requirements of being admitted by the New Mexico Bar Association to practice their profession, will not need to be citizens, residents, and their status will not be taken into account. migratory status.
In this way, DACA beneficiaries can practice their profession as lawyers and the new rule also protects their choice. This measure benefits the nearly 5,700 DACA beneficiaries in the state.
