Peters and Dingell

DEARBORN — Donald Trump kicked off his election campaign by calling undocumented immigrants rapists in his announcement speech. Over the course of the primaries, he mocked a disabled New York Times reporter, failed to immediately condemn a KKK leader and infamously proposed to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

Trump clinched the presidential nomination this week at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. A Trump presidency, once thought unthinkable, is a real possibility now.

Michigan is a diverse state with large Arab and Muslim communities that are mostly anxious about Trump’s divisive positions. The Republican nominee has pledged to deport all undocumented immigrants.

Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan) and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D- Dearborn) voiced support for their Arab and Muslim constituents as Republican speakers were to hyping fear at the convention in Cleveland.

Peters said the Republican nominee’s rhetoric on Muslims and refugees is unacceptable and has no place in the nation’s political discourse.

“Our diversity is what makes our country strong and I am very proud to represent Michigan’s strong, vibrant Arab American and Muslim communities, which include some of the most patriotic Americans I know,” the senator told The Arab American News via email. 

Dingell also condemned Trump’s remarks about Muslims, women and the disabled.

“My hometown of Dearborn has one of the largest populations of Muslims in the United States,” she told The AANews in an email. “They are doctors, teachers and community leaders, and proud to be American. We are stronger together – when we build bridges instead of barriers, when we lift each other up, not tear each other down, and when we work with our communities and our allies instead of alienating them.”

She added that Trump is seeking to divide the country at a time when Americans need to be united. 

“His comments betray the very values that make our country – and our community – great.”

In his acceptance speech, Trump painted a bleak picture of the nation, branding illegal immigrants and Syrian refugees a threat to national security, like terrorism.

He pledged to restrict immigration in general, saying that immigrants are causing lower wages and higher unemployment rates, particularly in Latino and African American communities.

Trump vowed to suspend immigration from countries that have been “compromised by terrorism.”

“We don’t want them in our country,” he said in a firm tone.

Ali Baleed Almaklani, the executive director of the Yemen American Benevolent Association, said Trump’s rationale does not adhere to logic.

“His supporters are hateful racists,” Almaklani said. “We ask God to spare the American people the catastrophe of his presidency.”