Starting next month, the new top federal prosecutor in Detroit will be Saima Mohsin, the first Muslim to be a U.S. attorney in Michigan and the country, according to federal officials and Muslim advocates.

On Feb. 2, 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. Serving for three years, Schneider announced his resignation on Thursday and said Mohsin, currently the first assistant U.S. attorney for eastern Michigan, will replace him.

Born in Pakistan, 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.

Mohsin is the first Muslim to be a U.S. Attorney in Michigan and also the country, said Gina Balaya, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office of Eastern District of Michigan.  Mohsin is also believed to be the first U.S. attorney who is Pakistani-American.

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.

"I’m extremely pleased to leave this office in the hands of one of the finest federal prosecutors I’ve ever known, Saima Mohsin," Schneider said. "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."

Source of information:

https://www.freep.com