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Michigan will have the first all-Muslim City Council in the United States after three candidates – Khalil Refai, Amanda Jaczkowski, and Adam Albarmaki won local elections.
Newly elected last week, they will join the three current members of the Hamtramck City Council. All six identify themselves as Muslims. In addition, the city also chose a new mayor, Amer Ghalib, making him the first Muslim to hold office.
“Tonight is a real example that the American dream is alive and kicking in the land of opportunity. Our victory tonight is a testament to this possibility: that an immigrant like me, who came here working in a factory at age 17, now has the honor and opportunity to serve the community that shaped him as its next mayor,” Ghalib said in remarks published by WDet, upon learning the results.
Amanda Jaczkowski assured that her work will be for all Americans. “We will all take an oath to protect the Constitution of the United States, and that includes the concept of separation of church and state,” Jaczkowski told The Detroit Free Press.
According to NBC News, it is estimated that nearly half of the city’s residents are Muslim. “The city was originally a center for Polish American immigrants and then became a haven for other immigrants as well.”
