Judge refuses to let immigrant activist Vargas off probation

Des Moines Register (Iowa):

By Grant Rodgers

Judge refuses to let immigrant activist Vargas off probation 

Cesar Vargas' fight to become the first undocumented immigrant lawyer in New York state is on hold after a Polk County judge chose to keep him on probation for disrupting a summit of Republican presidential hopefuls.

But the Mexican-born activist said he won't stop speaking out on immigration issues at political events. Vargas, 31, was charged in January with trespassing at the Iowa Freedom Summit at the privately-owned Hoyt Sherman Place for interrupting a speech by Chris Christie. Vargas shouted from the balcony to ask whether the New Jersey governor would support deporting the activist's 70-year-old mother.

"I will continue to advocate for the reasons that I came to Iowa for," Vargas said outside the courthouse Wednesday. "I think that immigration is an issue that is important for our country, and I will continue to make sure our voices are heard."

Vargas came to the United States from Mexico at age five with his mother and siblings. He passed the New York bar exam in 2011 after graduating from City University of New York School of Law and hoped to practice immigration and criminal law.

A state committee in 2013 denied him a license due to uncertainty over whether an undocumented immigrant could practice in the state. A New York appellate court in June overturned that decision.

But Vargas' one-year probation for the Iowa simple misdemeanor is at odds with a New York policy against admitting new lawyers while they're on probation. At the Wednesday morning hearing, Des Moines attorney Glen Downey argued that Iowa law allows Vargas to be released from his low-risk probation after he did a short interview with a probation officer and paid a $300 fine.

However, District Judge Kevin Parker said it's uncommon for somebody to be taken off probation after just one month, even if it's allowed by law. "I can't remember ever doing it," he said. "You're not any exception to anybody else."

The decision casts uncertainty over what will happen next with Vargas' bid to become a lawyer. It's up to a New York committee on character and fitness to decide whether to set aside the probation and admit him to the bar, Vargas said. Some sort of decision could be made in the coming weeks.

More than 1,200 people signed a Change.Org petition asking Democrat Polk County Attorney John Sarcone's office to drop its resistance to Vargas' request to be let off probation early. Activists circulated the main phone number to Sarcone's downtown Des Moines office on Twitter, urging people to call and voice their opinions.

Vargas' legal fight has attracted support from Democrat U.S. senators and congressmen. But Assistant Polk County Attorney Jeff Noble told Parker that Vargas was exploiting his stature to ask for special treatment.

"I support him in the fact that he's been able to reach those pinnacles given the challenges he has faced," Noble said. "My fear is today he will become a symbol for the proposition that we do treat some people different in the criminal justice system if they're willing to step in front of the camera, if they're willing to talk with a Des Moines Register reporter, if they're willing to argue their case and have enough friends writing letters to the court."

Noble also told the judge that Vargas "inconvenienced" police, judges and the jurors who served during the two-day trial.

It was offensive that the prosecutor characterized Vargas' jury trial as an inconvenience when trial-by-jury is a right guaranteed to all criminal defendants by the U.S. Constitution, Downey said. Vargas was not asking for any sort of special treatment, only what's allowable under Iowa law, he said.

"I'm sorry the Constitution is an inconvenience for the state of Iowa," he said after the hearing.

After graduating law school, Vargas co-founded the DREAMER Action Coalition, an immigrant-rights advocacy group. In February 2013 he was authorized by the federal government to stay in the U.S. under President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Vargas said he'll obey any state or local laws when he speaks out at future political events.

"I don't question challenging politicians," he said. "I don't question challenging elected officials when there are issues that matter to my family.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com