Reports about an FBI-owned plane that was surveilling Dearborn over the weekend are alarming. The bureau has denied that it was targeting the Arab community and added that it is not aware of any threats in Metro Detroit.

However, there is a growing irrational and unfounded fear of Dearborn being a hub for extremism. The city of 95,000 is one of the most welcoming communities in the area. It is home to hundreds of small businesses and an example of cultural diversity. 

Fox News viewers already assert as a factual statement that there are training camps for terrorists in Dearborn. This myth is popular even among conservative Metro Detroiters.  

But the urban legend of Dearborn’s Sharia laws and training camps are not the product of bigoted fringe groups; it is the product of federal policies and mass media campaigns to vilify Arabs and Muslims. This culture of fear has been carefully bred by Islamophobic networks and politicians from both sides of the spectrum, especially the extreme right.

It is ironic that Republicans, who generally lead the false allegations about Dearborn, held a presidential debate here in 2007.

There is nothing to surveil in Dearborn. We are a law-abiding community of successful Americans. However, the fact that we have nothing to hide should not be a green light for intelligence agencies to target us and scrutinize our people. We cherish our rights to privacy and free expression, which are guaranteed by the Constitution.

We take the FBI’s word that the bureau was not collecting bulk surveillance of the community. We also appreciate the agency’s prompt response to deny allegations that Dearborn was being targeted because of its Arab community. The Detroit FBI special agent in charge has befriended our community. He attends our events and breaks bread with our leaders. We have no reason not to trust him.

But the FBI is has a history of ethnic profiling and monitoring political dissents. In the post 9/11 era, the bureau set up young Muslim men to lock them up on terrorism charges. Here in Dearborn, an FBI informant actively convinced a young man to join Hezbollah in the war in Syria to incriminate him. 

We trust the local FBI office, but as the late President Reagan used to say, “trust, but verify.”

We demand more explanations about this flight when the specific investigation it was supposedly conducting concludes. Releasing the footage the plane collected would put to rest the allegations that Dearborn was the target.

For the sake of assuring our neighbors that there is nothing wrong with our city, the FBI should back its statement that it was not targeting Arabs and Muslims with documents to that effect.

The fact that Dearborn Police were not aware of the FBI’s activity is problematic. Lack of cooperation leads to misunderstandings and raises suspicions. 

The Detroit News mislead its readers by putting Dearborn in the headline of the story that uncovered the plane’s itinerary. The plane had flown over different areas of Metro Detroit and the southwest part of the city it circled repeatedly is largely populated by non-Arabs.

The local mainstream media are guilty of perpetuating misconceptions about Dearborn. 

When FBI National Director James Comey visited Detroit last year, several local reporters asked him about Dearborn, insinuating that Arab Americans are a burden on national security. 

Moments after the Detroit News article was published, Islamophobic comments started flooding the world wide web.

“Obviously, its [sic] little Iraq in Dearborn. Probably a few little cells in there,” one of the top liked comments on the News’ Facebook page read.

Another comment described the city as the “largest terrorist enclave out side of Iran and the middle east.” A user called Dearborn “a ticking time bomb, just waiting for the signal to detonate.” Countless comments blamed the Detroit News for warning “Dearborn’s terrorists” about the FBI surveillance.

This xenophobia is not only unfounded and offensive; it is dangerous. Stigmatizing Dearborn will fuel hatred that might turn violent.

We invite our neighbors who fear Dearborn to come to our city, eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores and walk in our neighborhoods. They will find nothing but tasty food and welcoming smiles.