Say No To Arizona Type Profiling Law in Michigan

CALL GOV SYNDER TO OPPOSE ARIZONA STYLE PROFILING BILL

Last week, Michigan House Bill 4305 was introduced by a number of state representatives, which would replicate a bill passed last summer in Arizona that gave local and state law enforcement power to question persons regarding their immigration status.

The passage of HB 4305 would thus allow police forces to enforce federal immigration law to question persons who may not appear to look or sound “American.”  If HB 4305 becomes law, it would provide police officers justification to profile individuals based upon physical features or religious attire  (i.e. hijab, niqab, thawb, turban, etc.)

“Since legal status in America cannot be ascertained by looking at persons’ skin color or religious attire, this bill becoming law has the potential of targeting Latinos and Muslims from various national backgrounds,” said CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid.

CAIR-MI opposed similar legislation that was proposed last year, which was patterned after Arizona’s anti-immigrant bill.

SEE: New Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law Will Result in Profiling (FOX 2 Detroit)

Contact Governor Rick Synder to ask him to veto this bill that invites civil rights abuses and will deter immigrant friendly businesses from creating jobs in Michigan.

Call 866-957-9069 or e-mail at Rick.Synder@michigan.gov.

DawudWalid

Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee. Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein." Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.

2 Comments

  1. WOW!!! you are VERY misinformed of what this bill actually consists of! If you actually read it you would know that it does not say they can question peoples immigration status by just their appearance or “sound”! What the bill actually says is that it would require state agencies and local governments to verify the legal U.S. residence status of every person who applies for various kinds of welfare benefits. It also says that law enforcement officers and agencies would make a reasonable attempt when practicable to determine the immigration status of any person detained under any lawful stop, detention, or arrest! If you would like to actually READ the bill being proposed here is the web address…http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/billintroduced/House/htm/2011-HIB-4305.htm

  2. Actually, I’m not misinformed at all. Local and state law enforcement questioning someone based upon a probability is too broad. People with DARKER skin and cultural/religious clothing will be questioned.

    You’re being insincere if you are telling me that Michigan State Police will be asking White folks about the citizenship status in West Bloomfield. They will, if this becomes law, being doing it in Dearborn and Southwest Detroit.

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