Arab- and Muslim-Americans in Metro Detroit: Resistance to the Travel Ban

• In Event: State and Diaspora Policies on Ethnicity and Political Engagement

Abstract

Executive Orders 13769, 13780, often designated as the “Travel Ban” or “Muslim Ban,” restricted US travel for citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen and banned Syrian refugees in 2017. The Supreme Court upheld these Executive Orders, modified after earlier court reversals, in 2018.
This paper focuses on mobilization of Arab- and Muslim-Americans as minorities facing what is widely considered intentional discrimination via such Executive Orders. Responses from diasporas in metro Detroit, which emphasize Muslim- and Arab-American community mobilization, are examined in detail. The Travel Ban led to protests, media activism, communications with Congress, and federal lawsuits.
Analysis focuses on interactions between and among Arab Muslims, Arabic-speaking Christians and other Muslims/Arab and Latino groups. The research agenda incorporates the activity of twelve organizations: ACLU, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Human Rights Council, American Moslem Society, Arab-American Civil Rights League, Arab-American National Museum, Iman Islamic Complex, Islamic Center of Detroit, Michigan Muslim Community Council, Michigan United, National Network for Arab American Communities and “Take on Hate.” Looking at the active minority response to anti-immigrant sentiment in this way tells the story anew – examining groups’ politicization and internal organization, alliances among related but distinct Arab-American communities, and coordination across ethnicities. While some work on right-wing populism and xenophobia’s anti-immigrant focus portrays the target groups as monolithic, passive actors, these entities instead emerge as complex and very active in the context of the Travel Ban.

Authors

• Nadejda K. Marinova, Wayne State University

• Raed Shehab Ahmed, The Iraqi University

• Patrick James, University of Southern California