Barbara Lagoa, Miami-Born Woman Judge, Being Considered by Trump for the Supreme Court

President Donald Trump is considering a Miami-born woman judge, Barbara Lagoa, to fill the spot left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who passed away on Friday, September 18.

Federal appellate court Judge Barbara Lagoa is a 52-year-old Cuban American whose parents are Cuban exiles who fled their country about 50 years ago when Fidel Castro came into power.

She was raised in Hialeah and currently serves on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, a position that Trump had nominated her for.

She is one of the two women judge who were listed by Trump as possible replacements at the Supreme Court which the president revealed earlier.

The other woman is Judge Amy Coney Barrett of U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

On Saturday, September 19, Trump said that his choice would most likely be a woman.

Trump said that Judge Barbara Lagoa is highly respected in Miami although he does not know her on a personal level, said a report on the Miami Herald.

The president said though that he has heard a lot of incredible things about the Hispanic judge, that she is an extraordinary person.

Lagoa speaks fluent Spanish.

Trump is pushing for the swift appointment of Ginsburg's replacement but the Democrats are against it and wants the seat to remain empty until after the November 3 general election. The election is 45 days away.

Cuban Americans are one of the big Trump supporters in Miami, according to a report on the Latin Post.

The Cuban Americans form a big influential voting group in the entire of Florida and they have always leaned toward the Republicans.

In 2016, Trump bagged 54 percent of the Cuban Americans votes while Hillary Clinton had 41 percent based on the exit polls.

As the frontrunner to succeed Ginsburg, Barbara Lagoa brings with her a lengthy judicial experience both in state and federal courts, according to a report on the USA Today.

As a Hispanic, Lagoa also has a string of "firsts" to her name.

Lagoa is the first Hispanic woman on the Florida Supreme Court when she was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019.

She was also the first Cuban-American woman to serve on the appeals court of Miami, the 3rd District Court of Appeal. It was also there that she later became its first Hispanic female chief judge.

Barbara Lagoa, however, only served the Florida Supreme Court for a short period as President Trump had nominated her in December 2019 to the appeals court position.

The Cuban American judge is also a member of the conservative Federalist Society which is adamant that judges should say what the law is and not what it should be.

Lagoa is a graduate of Florida International University in 1989 and Columbia University School of Law in 1992. She had also served as the associate editor of the Columbia Law Review.

Before Barbara Lagoa became a judge, she had worked as an attorney in many prominent Miami firms, one of them the nationally prominent Greenberg Traurig.

Check these out:

Miami Latinos Put Trump, Biden in Tight Presidential Race

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Death: How's the Operations in Supreme Court with Only 8 Justices

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Defender of Latinos and Immigrants