President Joe Biden has once again made headlines, this time with a bold declaration regarding the future of the United States Supreme Court. In a press conference outside the White House, Biden reiterated his commitment to diversity, stating, “If given the opportunity to nominate another justice to our nation’s highest court, my next nominee will be the first illegal immigrant ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court.”
Biden Says His Next SCOTUS Nominee 'Will Be An Illegal Immigrant, I Mean Undocumented' https://t.co/frMt2jOXlL
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) April 1, 2024
The announcement comes as no surprise to those familiar with Biden’s previous pledges to diversify the highest echelons of power in the country. From vowing to select a female running mate in 2020 to promising to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court in 2022, Biden has consistently championed diversity in his appointments.
However, this latest promise to nominate an undocumented immigrant to the Supreme Court has stirred both support and controversy. Advocates for diversity in the judiciary have lauded Biden’s commitment to breaking barriers and ensuring representation for all Americans, regardless of citizenship status.
“Undocumented representation on the Supreme Court is long overdue,” remarked Cordelia Campos-Patterson, an assistant professor of Latinx studies at Yale University. “How can we call ourselves a nation of laws when millions of non-citizens are denied the opportunity to assess the constitutionality of those laws?”
Nevertheless, critics have voiced concerns about the legality and precedent of such a nomination. Senior White House adviser Ian Sams pushed back against these concerns, pointing out that the U.S. Constitution does not explicitly require Supreme Court justices to be natural-born citizens.
“If an Uncle Tom like Clarence Thomas can sit on the court promoting white supremacy for more than three decades, I think it’s only fair to let an undocumented immigrant have a turn,” Sams asserted.As the debate over Biden’s promise unfolds, one thing is certain: the prospect of an undocumented immigrant serving on the highest court in the land has ignited passionate discussions about diversity, representation, and the principles upon which the United States was founded.
