Trump's travel ban fuels despair and disgust with politics among Arab Americans in Michigan

Winnipeg Free Press

a day ago

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — The ban on travel from certain countries that took effect Monday — reminiscent of President Donald Trump's first-term restrictions that became known to many as the ' Muslim ban ' — is once again souring relationships among Arab American voters in the key battleground state of Michigan, a group that Trump sought to make inroads with during the 2024 election.
It came as a particular shock to many Yemeni Americans in the Dearborn area, who were surprised to find their country on Trump's new list banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of 12 different countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.
'This is the reward to the community that defied everybody else?' asked Wali Altahif, a local activist who advocates for Yemeni and other immigrant communities. 'That said, 'No, we're going to support you, we going to vote for you'?'
The new proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. While it may not elicit the same protests as 2017, many Yemeni and Arab Americans in the all important battleground state see it as yet another offense contributing to enormous dissatisfaction with both major political parties in the U.S.
The aim of the new ban, the Trump administration said, is to 'protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.'
Altahif described it as 'selective discrimination' and 'collective punishment.'
Michigan is home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the U.S., largely concentrated in the Detroit metropolitan area. The state was an epicenter of anger at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the administration's support of Israel's offensive in Gaza, which has resulted in a worsening humanitarian crisis and sparked a historic shift away from the Democratic Party.
With Trump's history of policy and rhetoric, including the restriction on travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries during his first term, the new restrictions and anger over the toll on Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war have left many Arab American voters feeling that both major political parties have failed to deliver for them.
A dramatic change in Dearborn
In the November election, Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Dearborn, America's largest Arab-majority city, since 2000. Harris lost 15,000 of Democratic votes compared to Biden's 2020 win after Trump visited the area days before the election, campaigned in a local cafe and said he'd bring peace to the Middle East.
The shift was muted but real. Trump picked up 3,000 votes in the city and third-party candidate votes swelled to 20% of the overall vote. Many did not vote for a candidate at all. Trump won Michigan — and the presidency — for the second time in three attempts.
In Dearborn, nearly half of its 110,000 residents are of Arab descent and the largest Arab nationalities represented are from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.
Many Yemeni Americans in the metro Detroit area voted for Trump in the 2024 election after his vows for peace, which came at a time of widespread conflict and instability in the Middle East, Altahif said. In Yemen, a near decade-long civil war has pushed its population to the brink of famine.
In Trump's first months in office, the U.S. bombed Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen in a two-month long campaign that ended with a ceasefire agreement in May.
'Every single family of Yemeni descendant is affected by the war in Yemen,' Altahif said. 'And we were hopeful based on Trump's promise that he was going to end the war.'
Rasheed Alnozili, publisher of the Dearborn-based online and print news services the Yemeni American News, said the travel ban will only stigmatize Yemeni and Arab communities in America and fuel Islamophobia, not counter terrorism.
'They are part of the society, they are raising their kids,' he said of Yemeni communities.
There are exceptions to the ban. They include green-card holders and people with U.S. family members who apply for visas in connection to their spouses, children or parents. Altahif expects the ban to make it much harder for families separated by the distance to reunite. He said it took his wife from Yemen five years to get a visa approved before coming to live in the U.S. in 2024.
Widespread unease
Many in the community are reluctant to talk openly about the new travel restrictions for fear of retaliation, even if they are U.S. citizens or green-card holders. Others are reluctant to leave the country for fear of being held up by border agents when returning home, something Arab and Muslim Americans already report dealing with at airports.
Amir Makled, a Dearborn-based civil rights attorney, said the restrictions have been 'similarly chilling' for Muslim travelers compared to the 2017 policy. He's received several calls from people worried about being detained when traveling back to the U.S., even if they are citizens or lawful residents. One person of Yemeni descent ultimately canceled travel for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, a pillar of Islamic faith, Makled said.
'People overall are opting not to travel, even when they have a legal right to do so,' he said.
Both major political parties will have to appeal to the Arab and Muslim communities in the Detroit area in key upcoming races in 2026. With open races for the governor's office and a U.S. Senate seat, a few thousand votes could tip the balance of power in Lansing and in Congress.
'Where these voters land is going to, I think, make a difference in terms of who ends up in those seats,' said Peter Trumbore, chair of the department of political science at Oakland University.
The war in Gaza drove Yemeni Americans away from the Democratic Party, Altahif said, and Trump has not made good on his promise to quickly bring an end to the Israel-Hamas war which has resulted in the deaths of more than 55,000 Palestinians. Altahif noted state Democrats who have vocally opposed the travel ban, but said he has not seen Republicans do the same.
Osama Siblani, publisher of the Dearborn-based Arab American News, said candidates from both parties who are running for governor and the U.S. Senate have met with him in recent months as the 2026 midterm races start. He also met with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a longtime Democrat who is running as an independent for the governor's office.
Siblani called the travel ban a 'racist' executive action that does nothing to help people in war-torn Yemen and Sudan, nations where many metro Detroit residents have relatives. But their disappointment in both Democrats and Republicans may leave them looking for a third option.
'I can see that there is an appetite in our community or a need in our communities to vote for an independent,' Siblani said.
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Associated Press video journalist Mike Housholder contributed to this report.