President Biden announced Wednesday he will nominate Adeel A. Mangi, a Harvard- and Oxford-trained lawyer, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, based in Philadelphia. If confirmed by the Senate, Mangi would become the first Muslim American to serve on a federal appellate court in U.S. history.

It comes two years after Biden nominated the first Muslim to a federal district court, Zahid N. Quraishi, who was confirmed by the Senate for a judgeship in New Jersey.

The White House said the nominations help fulfill Biden’s pledge to “ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country — both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.”

Mangi graduated from the University of Oxford with a bachelor’s degree in law in 1998, and from Harvard Law School in 2000, according to his biography at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, the law firm he joined in 2000 and where he is now a partner.

Mangi is a prominent lawyer known for his work in civil rights and commercial litigation. He wrote a number of amicus briefs in recent years that sought to block key initiatives of the previous administration, including a Muslim travel ban, diverting federal funds to a build a wall on the southern border, and an attempt to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The nomination comes amidst increasing tensions as growing number of swing-state Muslim American and Arab American leaders are warning Biden that he is losing support from their communities due his handling of the war in Gaza.

Read more at: The Washington Post