Pakistan born Saima Mohsin appointed as 1st Muslim US attorney

Pakistan born Saima Mohsin will be the new top federal prosecutor in Detroit, and the first Muslim to be a U.S. attorney in the country.

According to the media reports, on Feb. 2, Saima Mohsin, 52, is to become the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan after the current U.S. attorney for the district, Matthew Schneider, steps down on Feb. 1.

Saima Mohsin has been a federal prosecutor for decades, working since 2002 in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

As an immigrant of Asian descent who is Muslim, she will bring diversity to an important position that is the chief federal law enforcement officer in the eastern part of the state.

She is a career prosecutor, having served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2002. Prior to that, she was a Deputy New Jersey Attorney General and an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan.

Mohsin has served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office Violent and Organized Crime Unit, the Drug Task Force and the General Crimes Unit, the Department of Justice said in a news release.

Matthew Schneider who is stepping down from the post on Feb 1^st said “I’m extremely pleased to leave this office in the hands of one of the finest federal prosecutors I’ve ever known, Saima Mohsin.”

He added that, “Saima is a dynamic trial lawyer and a talented manager.  And, as the first woman, immigrant, Muslim United States Attorney in American history, her service is truly historic. Saima will be an outstanding representative and defender of our community as the Acting United States Attorney.”