| Diana S. Saldaña | |
| Office: | Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas |
| Term Start: | February 9, 2011 |
| Appointer: | Barack Obama |
| Predecessor: | George P. Kazen |
| Office1: | Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas |
| Term Start1: | 2006 |
| Term End1: | 2011 |
| Birth Date: | 30 April 1971 |
| Birth Place: | Carrizo Springs, Texas, U.S. |
| Education: | University of Texas at Austin (BA, JD) |
Diana S. Saldaña (born April 30, 1971) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and a former United States magistrate judge of the same court.
Saldaña was born in Carrizo Springs, Texas to Blanca Hernandez Rodriguez, a single mother.[1] 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.[1] 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.[2] She then attended the University of Texas School of Law, where she was president of the Chicano/Hispanic Law Students Association.[1] Saldaña earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 1997.[1] [2] 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.[2]
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.[2] She was sworn in on March 27, 2006.[1]
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.[3] On July 14, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Saldaña to replace George P. Kazen,[4] for whom she previously clerked. On February 7, 2011, her nomination was confirmed by the Senate by a 94–0 vote.[5] [6] She received her commission on February 9, 2011.