Diana Saldaña

Early life and education

Saldaña was born in Carrizo Springs, Texas to Blanca Hernandez Rodriguez, a single mother. Beginning at the age of 10 and continuing through law school, Saldaña spent summers with her family as a seasonal farmworker in Minnesota and North Dakota.

Saldaña received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, the first in history in 1993 and the second in government in 1994. She then attended the University of Texas School of Law, where she was president of the Chicano/Hispanic Law Students Association. Saldaña earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 1997. After graduating law school, Saldaña served as law clerk for Judge George P. Kazen of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Federal judicial service

In 2006, Saldaña was selected to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. She was sworn in on March 27, 2006.

During the 111th United States Congress, Democrats from the Texas House delegation and Republican Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison agreed to recommend Saldaña for a Laredo vacancy on the Southern District of Texas. On July 14, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Saldaña to replace George P. Kazen, for whom she previously clerked. On February 7, 2011 her nomination was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 94 ayes and 0 nays. She received her commission on February 9, 2011.