Author's Posts
Tlaib, Omar, Carson call for investigation into ICE feeding pork to Muslim detainees
August 31st, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Andre Carson (D-IN) are leading a letter to the Department of Homeland Security that calls for a full investigation into allegations that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) fed detainees pork, in violation of their religious tenets. The...
Hamtramck City Council censures Councilman Perrotta for abusive tirade against city employee
August 28th, 20204 HAMTRAMCK — In a meeting on Aug. 25, the Hamtramck City Council voted 4-2 on a resolution to condemn and censure comments made by Mayor Pro Tem Ian Perrotta against a city employee in June. The resolution contains the colorful language used by Perrotta against the city employee, who had informed Perrotta that his petition to...
City officials, local Muslims break ground for new community center and mosque in Sterling Heights
August 22nd, 20200 STERLING HEIGHTS — On Wednesday, five years or so after it petitioned the city of Sterling Heights to construct a 20,500 square-foot community center and mosque in the area of 15 Mile and Mound Road, The American Islamic Community Center (AICC) finally broke ground on the project. A groundbreaking ceremony saw city and state...
Arab and Jewish youths in Brooklyn come together for Palestinian refugees amid COVID-19 pandemic
August 21st, 20200 NEW YORK — A new initiative by nine Muslim, Jewish and Arab youths in Brooklyn, New York seeks to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has deeply affected the already vulnerable 70 million forcibly displaced people...
Children with cancer need immediate help in the wake of Beirut blast
August 21st, 20200 DEARBORN — Jackie Ayoub, a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, has set up a GoFundMe page to accept donations that will go towards helping patients of the pediatric oncology unit at Saint George Hospital in Beirut. The unit was badly damaged along with the hospital in the Aug. 4 explosion at the city's port. Now...
Tlaib, Dingell lead effort to urge temporary deportation protections for Lebanese nationals after Beirut blast
August 20th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) are co-leading an effort to put pressure on the Trump administration to use its powers to defer deportation of Lebanese nationals in light of the Aug. 4 Beirut explosion. The relief effort for the people of Lebanon comes after the Beirut...
$600 million preliminary settlement reached for Flint water lawsuits
August 20th, 20200 FLINT — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Thursday that a preliminary agreement in the Flint water-related civil lawsuits has been reached, offering a state of Michigan-backed settlement of $600 million to parties who claim they were affected by the Flint water crisis. The settlement has been agreed to by state...
Tlaib casts vote for Sanders, single-payer healthcare, as DNC gets set to nominate Biden
August 17th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrats kicked off a four-day virtual convention on Monday that is set to end in the official presidential nomination of Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the party to overhaul its planned, in-person convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The event will instead be...
Pandemic opportune time for Trump to pursue aggressive immigration policy
August 14th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C — A new report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) shows the breadth of changes to immigration policy enacted during the Trump administration. The report collects for posterity and analysis of broad sweeping changes and technical adjustments to the immigration system in the U.S., with more than 400 executive...
Dingell and other officials announce autonomous vehicle corridor in Southeast Michigan
August 13th, 20200 DETROIT — On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn), joined Governor Whitmer, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, Bill Ford, Mayor Mike Dugan and other members of the Michigan Congressional Delegation to announce plans to develop an autonomous vehicle corridor from Ann Arbor to Detroit. The corridor will have a...
Researcher launches survey to assess and improve national Arab American health
August 12th, 20200 BOSTON — A new survey seeks to assess the health of Arab Americans in the U.S. The Survey of Arab Health in America, or SAHA, aims to bridge gaps in the knowledge of the population that is historically underrepresented in health research, often due to its non-existence as a category on official documents like the...
Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris as running mate
August 11th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden has chosen former prosecutor and current California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, Biden's campaign announced Tuesday. If elected, she would be the nation’s first female, first Black and first Asian American vice president. "You make a lot of...
Lebanon’s government resigns after outrage over deadly Beirut blast
August 10th, 20200 BEIRUT — On Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced the official resignation of his government after a powerful Beirut port explosion sparked outrage and protests against the country’s leaders. The massive explosion that devastated the capital last Tuesday killed some 200 people and wounded 6,000 others. Diab...
Dingell, Hammoud announce AK Steel will withdraw permit request to increase emissions in South Dearborn
August 7th, 20200 DEARBORN — U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) and State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn) announced on Thursday that Cleveland Cliffs, the owner of AK Steel, is withdrawing its permit requests to increase allowable thresholds for manganese and lead emissions. This comes after months of conversations, led by Dingell, Hammoud...
Majority of voters say no to Hamtramck School District’s bond proposal
August 5th, 20202 HAMTRAMCK — The Hamtramck School District lost out on a proposal on Tuesday that could have meant the construction of a new elementary school and other infrastructural projects by levying seven mills in property taxes. The proposal had meant to modernize the district and make learning equitable by getting rid of temporary......
Primary Election 2020: Big victories in Wayne County for Tlaib, Worthy, Aiyash
August 5th, 20200 DEARBORN — Unofficial election results out of Wayne County for the Aug. 4 primaries show victories for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy; U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn); Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree; Wayne Commissioners Sam Baydoun, Al Haidous and David Knezek; State Rep. candidate...
Breaking: Huge explosion rocks Beirut, dozens dead, thousands injured
August 4th, 20200 BEIRUT — A huge explosion in Beirut has caused at least 78 deaths and 4,000 injuries. The explosion sent a shockwave across the Lebanese capital, creating massive destruction, shattering windows and collapsing apartment balconies. Social media became flooded with videos and photos from eyewitnesses on the ground soon after the......
Tlaib’s opponent Brenda Jones gets support from pro-Modi Indian nationalists, Detroit’s big money construction
August 3rd, 20200 DETROIT — In the congressional race between popular Detroit congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and her Democratic primary opponent, Brenda Jones, powerful interests have backed Jones' campaign, records reveal. Representing one of these interests is an influx of supporters of Indian nationalist Prime Minister, and friend of President...
Hamtramck Schools Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed talks bond proposal ahead of election
July 31st, 20200 HAMTRAMCK — Residents of Hamtramck have a big decision to make about the future of public education for its families. Voters will decide on Aug. 4 whether securing a low-interest $35,265,000, 30-year bond for new construction and maintaining the needs of the Hamtramck Public School District (HPS) is worth the seven mill tax...
Trump wants to delay elections, but only Congress has the power to do so
July 30th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump once again went after what he calls "universal mail-in voting" fraud, calling foul play and even considered delaying national elections "until people can properly, securely and safely vote." https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288818160389558273?s=20 But the U.S. Constitutions give...
Whitmer to provide COVID-19 update as cases continue to rise
July 28th, 20200 LANSING — Governor Whitmer is set to give an update on COVID-19 at 2 p.m., Tuesday afternoon, as cases continue to rise in the state. Whitmer will be joined by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun. Monday saw 488 confirmed cases with five deaths, bringing up the total......
COVID-19, aging, dementia and social bonds; an Arab American perspective
July 25th, 20200 DEARBORN — COVID-19 has been a difficult ordeal for Sylvana Berry, 24, and her family. Berry is extremely close to and has been directly involved in the care of her grandmother, Samira Baghdadi, who has Alzheimer’s Disease. Baghdadi migrated to the U.S. in 1976 with her husband and six children, escaping from the Lebanese Civil...
Tlaib, Dingell spearhead historic legislation to repeal Muslim travel ban
July 22nd, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the NO BAN Act, a bill that will effectively repeal the Trump Administration's discriminatory ban against Muslims, Africans, refugees and asylees. The final vote tally was 233-183. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) presided over the debate of......
Dearborn mother pleads for return of 3-year-old twins their father abducted to Saudi Arabia
July 22nd, 20200 DEARBORN — Madonna Saad is imploring elected officials to help with the safe return of her 3-year-old twin children Nour and Hussein Al-Abdulaziz after an ongoing abduction case that has lasted almost a year. On Aug. 6, 2019, the twins were taken by their father, Ali, a Dearborn resident, on what was supposed to be a three-week...
Trump asks Americans to wear masks at unusually measured Tuesday press briefing
July 22nd, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a three-month break from his infamous COVID-19 press conferences from the White House, President Trump took to the podium on Tuesday to give both sobering and hopeful news. "Some areas of country doing very well, others doing less well," Trump said of the disease caused by what he repeatedly called the......
