Arab American voters helped Trump win Michigan. What will his presidency bring?
Ali Alfarajalla, real estate agent born in Baghdad dearbornMichigan typically votes Democratic, but this election is different.
“If 50,000 Palestinians dying under rubble isn’t enough to make me leave the Democratic Party, I don’t know what will,” Afarajala said.
More than half of Dearborn’s population is Middle Eastern or North African. In Wayne County, which encompasses the inner-ring suburbs and Detroit, nearly 8 percent of the population is Arab-American, the highest rate in the United States
Last November, all but the top vote-getters voted Democratic. President Trump comes to Dearborn Looked for votes and got it. He won the city and occupied michigan It’s a stunning reversal for Democrats.
“Voters here are deeply unhappy with Kamala Harris and appalled by the Biden administration,” said Diana Abu Ali, director of the Arab American National Museum.
Trump won 42% of the vote in Dearborn to Harris’ 36%. Green Party and pro-ceasefire candidate Jill Stein received 18 percent — higher than anywhere else in Michigan. Detroit Public Radio reports.
Abu Ali said the results show how angry Dearborn is with the Biden-Harris White House, largely over its support for Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. Although the president has been Ban travel from some Muslim-majority countries and worried about his proposal Deport millions of immigrants.
“For some reason, they feel like Trump is their candidate,” Abu Ali said, adding that “Arab Americans, like most Americans, have a very short memory.”
Palestinian stand-up comedian Amer Zair refused to vote for Harris.
Asked if he voted in anger, Zar said: “Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. The most important thing is that they lost so we could make our presence known.”
Now, Zar says whatever happens next for the new trump is It’s worth the risk.
“We get it… We understand that anyone who has any illusion that Donald Trump is going to do anything good for the specific interests of our community, I think is deceiving themselves,” Zar said.
While Alfarajara sees the risks that a second Trump presidency could bring, he also holds out hope.
“I have a house here. You know, I have a business. I’m paying taxes. Am I going to be deported?” Alfarajara said.
Hopefully the American dream he sold as a real estate agent is the same American dream his community can maintain now.
