When Norberto A. Garcia and his family emigrated from Cuba to the United States in the mid-1970s, they did not speak a word of English. Garcia, then six, easily picked up his new language, but for older members of his family the transition was more difficult.

Growing up in North Bergen, his parents were occasionally called names and his family was taken advantage of at times (particularly after his father died eight years after their arrival) because they did not know their rights in their newly adopted country. Garcia still recalls the time a tow truck operator taunted his mother, who barely spoke English, and scammed her out of money.

Today, Garcia is poised to become the first Latino president in the history of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. He will be sworn in this week at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick.