The Florida Board of Bar Examiners is asking the state Supreme Court to determine whether it can admit someone who is not in the country legally, the Sun Sentinel reports.

The issue involves aspiring lawyer Jose Godinez-Samperio, 25, a Tampa-area resident and native of Mexico who entered the United States with his parents 16 years ago on a tourist visa and didn't leave.

In the meantime, he became valedictorian of his high school class of 2004 and graduated from the Florida State University College of Law.

"No one who has shown this guy's level of contempt for American law should be practicing law," William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, a political action committee that opposes amnesty for undocumented immigrants, tells the newspaper.

Godinez-Samperio's a attorney and former law professor, Sandy D'Alemberte, who is also a former state lawmaker, former president of FSU and former president of the American Bar Association, disagrees, arguing that "it is unfair to deny him the credentials he's earned."

Some supporters say that while Godinez-Samperio would not be permitted to earn a living legally as an undocumented immigrant, he could handle pro bono cases with a Bar card.

The Sun Sentinel says the state Board of Bar Examiners began requiring exam-takers to submit proof of immigration status in 2008, but waived it for Godinez-Samperio, who disclosed his status and argued that documentation was not required as a rule for admission to the Bar.