Luis Cortes Romero’s story as first undocumented attorney to argue before Supreme Court
A new documentary, “From Here/From There” (De Aquí /De Allá), tells the story of how Luis Cortes Romero went from DACA recipient to arguing in the Supreme Court.
Growing up in Northern California, Luis Cortes Romero was an enthusiastic learner and attended a school for gifted students. When his school organized a trip to Europe, Cortes Romero sold chocolates as part of the fundraising. Although he sold more chocolates than anyone in his class, he was disappointed when he found out he couldn’t go. He had no papers, his mother told him. This is how Cortes Romero learned that he was undocumented.
This week, a new documentary looks at Cortes Romero’s journey from disaffected young man to DACA grantee to the first undocumented lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court. “From Here/From There” (De Aquí /De Allá) premieres on PBS on July 9, kicking off the 2024 season of Voces.
DACA, short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a 2012 program started by President Barack Obama which allows young people brought to the U.S. as children who don't have legal documentation to live and work without fear of deportation.
Born in Mexico, Cortes Romero was brought to the U.S. when he was 1 year old. As a young adult, he struggled with feeling “dichotomous” as he tried to balance his Mexican roots and his American life. “It felt hard to reconcile both,” he says in the film. “I wasn’t enough of one or the other, and neither of them.”
Thanks to his mother’s encouragement, Cortes Romero graduated college and went on to law school. “That’s when it dawned on me,” he said in an interview with NBC News, “that my lack of status was going to be a problem, that I maybe could never actually practice law.” Though he nearly quit, his mother insisted that he complete his studies.
Rating: 5