[France24] In Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit where one-third of residents identify as Arab-American or are of Arab descent, Muslim voters lean decidedly towards the Democrats. And while Joe Biden wasn’t the first choice for many here, widespread opposition to President Donald Trump is bringing voters into his camp. The last time Nada Al-Hanooti came to the Starbucks in the bustling downtown of Dearborn, Michigan, it was to meet another reporter. The activist, who serves as executive director for Michigan of the Muslim political action group Emgage, has spent most of her days working from home since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. And it’s been keeping her on her toes.
Al-Hanooti’s chief goal now is to mobilise Michigan voters for the presidential election.
"2020 is literally the most important election year for all of us as Americans, and all people of colour," she told FRANCE 24.
Dearborn, which borders the city of Detroit, is known as the birthplace of industrialist Henry Ford, and to this day it hosts the automaker’s global headquarters. The city also has the largest US Muslim population in the United States per capita. Restaurants and businesses display signs in English and Arabic; on Ford Road, opposite Henry Ford College and the University of Michigan, sits the largest US mosque, the Islamic Center of America.
Along with Detroit, Dearborn is part of Michigan’s heavily gerrymandered Wayne County and, specifically, sits on the edge of the district that in 2018 sent Democrat Rashida Tlaib to Congress. Tlaib is one of the four members of the congressional group dubbed the "Squad" that is seen as pushing Democrats to the left and which stokes outrage among Republicans.
Dearborn was also one of the few bright spots for Bernie Sanders this year in a state that otherwise tipped decisively towards Joe Biden, after going to the democratic socialist in 2016. Sanders won the March Democratic primary in Dearborn with 62 percent of the vote, nearly double Biden’s tally.