DEARBORN — As Arab Americans and other ethnic minorities keep a concerned eye on President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, Republican legislators are urging the public to stay calm and take comfort in the county’s system of protective civil rights laws.

Not everyone is buying that, including State Senator David Knezek (D-Dearborn Heights).

“Now is not the time to be complacent,” Knezek said. “Now is the time to get organized, to stand together and reaffirm our commitment to one another as Americans.”

The senator touted the effectiveness of grassroots activism and supporting organizations that historically have had the capacity and resources to stand against discriminating laws in both state and federal legislatures.

For him, that includes donating to Michigan’s ACLU, the Detroit branch NAACP, Affirmations and the Arab American Civil Rights League.

Most importantly, however, fighting for civil liberties means promoting being engaged in the “participatory sport” of democracy and getting locals and other communities on board through awareness, he added.

“If Trump talks about a registry for Arab Americans, we need to talk about why that’s wrong and how it would negatively affect our community and neighbors,” Knezek said.

He said state lawmakers’ influence on most bills in the U.S. Congress is limited, although the state legislature can introduce legislation, bills and resolutions encouraging Congress to act on certain matters. That question would then be whether the majority Republican state senate will be willing to give those resolutions a hearing.

Michigan’s state senators seem to hold varying opinions on Trump, with some openly opposing him, some supporting him and some who are caught in between regarding the direction his campaign has taken.

But for some Democrats like Knezek, the position is obvious.

“‘If somebody shows you who they are the first time, believe them,'” he said, quoting the poet Maya Angelou.

He said when Trump talks about building a wall and registering Muslims and then appoints individuals who share alt-right values to high level White House positions, that is a red flag that the president-elect is serious about his seemingly divisive rhetoric and is putting a team in place that could effectuate bigoted policies.

Knezek said he respects the Constitutional right to protest, but urged participants to remember demonstrations must remain peaceful.

“If we lose that peaceful element of our protest, we are unable to get our message across,” he added.

Unlike many legislators, Knezek argues there is “absolutely a real concern” that civil liberties of Arab Americans could be in danger.

He pointed to Carl Higbie, a prominent Trump supporter, who referenced Japanese American internment camps in an appearance on Fox News as a “precedent” for an immigrant registry suggested by a member of the president-elect’s transition team.

He assured Arab and Muslim Americans that there is no cause for alarm about internment camps, but urged community members and organizations to remain vigilant.

“We have to keep a watchful eye on everything this president is going to be doing,” Knezek said. “We have to hold him accountable every step of the way. The second he starts to slip, we must be there to call him out.”