US President Joe Biden (File image)
Washington (UNA-OIC) – US President Joe Biden announced the nomination of 11 federal judges, including the first Muslim American to be chosen for this position, as part of the President’s efforts to promote ethnic and cultural diversity in the US judicial system.
If approved by the Senate, Muslim American of Pakistani origin Zahid Quraishi, 45, will become the first-ever Muslim to serve as a federal district judge in the United States.
Quraishi, the first Muslim nominee for a federal district judge position, was also the first Muslim to become the magistrate judge for the District of New Jersey, Trenton vicinage, on June 3, 2019. He is also the first Asian-American to sit on the federal bench in New Jersey.
“Judge Quraishi has defended and served our country with distinction in numerous roles — and will make history if confirmed as the first Muslim American federal judge,” said New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.
Biden’s first 11 judicial nominees also include three black women chosen for circuit court vacancies, the first Asian-American woman to serve on the US District Court for the District of Columbia, and the first woman of color to serve as a federal judge for the District of Maryland.
The nominations as a whole “represent the broad diversity of background, experience, and perspective that makes our nation strong,” Biden said in a statement on Tuesday.