Judge Sonia Sotomayor won praise for her decisions from at least one House Republican during a 2007 hearing.
Now-retired Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) praised Sotomayor’s dissent in a 2nd Circuit Court decision ruling that Chinese men were ineligible for asylum along with their wives, when they were subjected to forced abortion or sterilization.
Sotomayor objected to splitting up asylum-seeking husbands and wives, a decision which won praise from Fossella.
In a 2007 subcommittee hearing, Fossella said Sotomayor “made the point well” against enforcing separate rules for husbands and wives.
Fossella had sought to block funding to carry out the circuit court decision.