[6] Garcia graduated from Durham High School before earning an associate degree in social and behavioral sciences and another in business administration from Butte College.
Garcia then began lobbying members of the legislature until a bill was finally introduced recommending applicants be allowed to practice law if they have met all other bar requirements in spite of having been brought into the country unlawfully by their parents.
1159 on September 28, 2014, requiring "all 40 licensing boards under the California Department of Consumer Affairs to consider applicants regardless of immigration status by 2016," Garcia was cited as being part of the inspiration for the bill.
[13] After learning the Supreme Court of California ruled he could be a lawyer, Garcia told The New York Times, "I can open my own law firm, and that's exactly what I intend to do.
[15] As an inspirational speaker and nationally recognized lawyer,[16] Garcia has delivered many keynote addresses and lectures, and participated in panels at venues including Sierra College,[17] the Bickel & Brewer Latino Institute for Human Rights at New York University School of Law,[18] La Raza Centro Legal's 41st Anniversary Celebration,[19] and Napa Valley College's fourth annual Dreamer's Conference.
[20] In early 2014, Saint Mary's Hall, a private college preparatory school in San Antonio, Texas, invited Garcia to be a speaker at their model United Nations conference.
Before the incident, Saint Mary's Hall had described Garcia as an "experienced and exciting keynote speaker", as well as expressing how unfortunate that he had been waiting for a visa for 19 years.