Jan. 1, 2014 is a day that will always be fondly remembered for Mexican undocumented immigrant, Sergio Garcia, who can officially practice law in the state of California despite his immigration status.

The California Supreme Court granted a law license on Thursday to Garcia who has been living in the United States illegally since he was a baby and who went on to graduate from law school and pass the state bar exam, The Associated Press reports.

Back in 1996, Garcia had challenged "a federal law that bars people living in the country illegally from receiving professional licenses from government agencies or with the use of public funds, unless state lawmakers vote otherwise.

"Shortly after the court heard arguments in the case, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a state law that authorized the granting of the license. The new law went into effect Jan. 1," the AP adds.

"While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Brown said in an earlier statement. "I'm not waiting."

Thirty-eight percent of California's 38 million people of Hispanic descent.

The distinctive law brought on by the efforts of Garcia, 36, who arrived to the U.S. illegally 20 years ago to pick almonds with his father and worked at a grocery store and in the fields while attending school, including community college. He became a paralegal, went to law school and passed the bar on his first try. He applied for citizenship in 1994, and is still working toward that goal.

His impressive accomplishment and unfortunate barrier due to his illegal status didn't go unnoticed. He received support of the State Bar of California and the state attorney general.

It seems that Garcia can now find some gratification after what he calls a four-year "uphill battle of an immigrant against the federal government of the most powerful country in the world."

When Garcia received a call when the bill was signed in October from Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D) telling him that his battle was over, Garcia was emotional and cried "happy tears," according to an earlier report from Fox News Latino.

"I got choked up.  I allowed myself to relieve the stress and everything I have felt," he said. "But more than being happy for myself, I am just happy for people in my same situation who are not going to have to suffer in making their dream of becoming an attorney a reality"

According to the AP, the case has pitted the Obama administration, which opposes licensing Garcia, against state officials who have supported him.

"The Obama position in the case came as a surprise to some, since it adopted a program that shields people who were brought to the U.S. as children, graduated from high school and have kept a clean criminal record from deportation and allows them to legally work in the country.

"At a hearing in September a majority of the state Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant to grant Garcia the license, saying the law prohibits them from doing so unless the Legislature acts."

The AP also points out that lawyers for the federal government argued that Garcia was barred from receiving his license because the court's budget is funded by public money.

Garcia, "who served as inspiration for the bill," was the first person Lorena Gonzalez (D), the author of the bill, called after finding out Gov. Brown had signed AB 1024.

"I was super excited," she said. "This gives (undocumented immigrants) the opportunity to continue to pursue their dreams while we wait for something to happen at the national level."

"This is also an indication that in California we can sit around and wait for immigration reform or we can start to improve the lives of the people who are here," Gonzalez added.