U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) indicated the U.S. government could possibly exceed its authority against citizens, among them, Arab Americans in Dearborn.   

The issue emerged while Paul was on the Senate floor speaking in a filibuster to protest against granting the U.S. government authority to launch domestic drone strikes. He made note of how it would impact Arabs in Dearborn while speaking on NBC. 

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul

Paul reportedly received a letter from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about the possibility of drone strikes being launched in the United States. 

Paul said, if implemented the policy could lead to a situation where an Arab American in Dearborn is walking down the street emailing with a friend in the Mideast and all of a sudden a drone is dropped on the individual. 

According to reports, while speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, Paul referenced Dearborn’s Arab Americans.  

He said, “If you are sitting in a cafeteria in Dearborn, Mich., if you happen to be an Arab American who has a relative in the Middle East and you communicate with them by e-mail and somebody says, ‘Oh, your relative is someone we suspect of being associated with terrorism,’ is that enough to kill you? For goodness sakes, wouldn’t we try to arrest and come to the truth by having a jury and a presentation of the facts on both sides of the issue?”