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.

[1][3] 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.

[4] On July 14, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Saldaña to replace George P. Kazen,[5] for whom she previously clerked.