ADC-MI Director Fatina Abdrabboh holds a press conference outside the Dearborn Police station.

DEARBORN – The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Michigan (ADC-MI) filed a lawsuit in federal court this week against the city of Dearborn and its police department for forcing a Muslim woman to remove her hijab after she was arrested.

The Muslim woman, Maha Aldahlimi, was taken into custody after police officers discovered that she had an unpaid parking ticket.  The incident occurred on September 15, 2014, when the plaintiff was stopped for temporarily parking in a no parking zone outside of the Dearborn Walmart on Ford Rd.  

The lawsuit alleges that after she was arrested and taken to the Dearborn Police Department, the plaintiff’s son arrived to the police station and informed officers that his mother could not be seen without a headscarf in front of non-relative males.

He was assured that the plaintiff would not be ordered to remove her hijab in front of any male officers. However, that is not what allegedly transpired.

Shortly afterwards, the plaintiff was taken into a room for booking with other present male officers. The officers ordered her to remove her hijab for the photograph. The plaintiff started crying and would not comply to do so at first, requesting a female officer. 

The male officers, who are not named in the lawsuit, allegedly told her that if she would not comply, then they would involuntarily remove her hijab against her will. 

Out of fear, the Muslim woman decided to comply with the police officers’ demands.

ADC-MI Director Fatina Abdrabboh, along with Western Wayne County NAACP President Bishop Walter L. Starghill, held a press conference in front of the Dearborn Police Department on Tuesday, June 30, to discuss the lawsuit with media. 

According to Abdrabboh, the city of Dearborn had implemented a special policy that was supposed to be enforced on women who wear Muslim attire. Part of the policy indicated that a woman police officer would take the mugshot if a Muslim woman in a headscarf was being booked.

Abdrabboh raised several concerns on the policy Dearborn implemented and questioned why it wasn’t enforced on the plaintiff at the time of her booking.

“We’ve still not gotten an answer as to why there was not a woman at the time of the mugshot,” Abdrabboh said.  “Having a woman take the photo is a very good first start at addressing the problem that we’ve been asking them to look into for a few months now.” 

The lawsuit against the city of Dearborn is the latest in a string of cases involving Muslim women who have filed complaints against police departments for comanding them to remove their hijab. 

Earlier this year, a local woman also filed a lawsuit against the city of Dearborn Heights after she was arrested for driving on a suspended license. 

Last Month, the Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL) also filed a lawsuit against the Oceana County Sheriff’s Department for forcing a Muslim woman to remove her headscarf while she was vacationing with her family at the Sand Dunes. She was also arrested for an unpaid ticket. 

Aldahlimi claims that she was not aware that she had an unpaid parking ticket. 

Abdrabboh noted that the ADC-MI has overseen a number of similar cases involving Muslim women and local authorities. She is hoping that Dearborn and police departments in surrounding municipalities will follow the lead of the supreme court, which declared that institutionalized citizens and those in the process of being held need to be accommodated for. 

“Respecting religious tolerance and upholding the first amendment obligates the city of Dearborn to honor the law,” Abdrabboh said. “Those of us in the civil rights community know all too well that often times government puts out these policies that are problematic on two levels. One is that the policy in itself presents constitutional problems, second is the application of the policy is unfair or never really implemented.”

Starghill noted that he found it puzzling that a police department that serves a large population of Muslims still hasn’t been able to find a solution to what appears to be a reoccurring issue.  He used Abdrabboh, a Muslim woman in a headscarf, as an example of how he would properly identify her.

“I have never seen her hair, so to take a mughshot without her headscarf–I wouldn’t even recognize her,” Starghill said. “We need to have dialogue and come up with a common ground.”

Abdrabboh said that the lack of sensitivity towards women in hijab at the police department has  left several Muslim women in distress. Abdrabboh said that the plaintiff now lives in fear and “shakes uncontrollably and turns in the opposite direction” when ever she sees a police officer. 

Abdrabboh added that it is the police department’s duty to open their doors for discussions with civil rights groups and community leaders on how to come up with policies that will protect both citizens and the city’s police officers. 

Police departments have long argued that the removal of headwear, including the hijab, is a necessity in proper protocal to ensure that the individual being detained doesn’t have a concealed weapon. Civil rights groups argue that a proper frisk and pat down performed by a female police officer could easily amend the issue.

Residents in Dearborn have also long argued that the Dearborn Police force doesn’t reflect the diverse population it serves. The city boasts a nearly 50 percent Arab population, which is clearly not reflected in the police department. That factor may occasionally lead to cultural barriers or insensitivity between police officers and residents. 

In recent years however, Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad has hired in several Arab American police officers in an attempt to diversify its force. 

“It’s important to note that the ADC invites the city of Dearborn and the police chief to join us for a conversation about policing and the impact on our community,” Abdrabboh said.  “If the city is looking to talk to us, we can come up with a policy that balances the needs of both the police and its citizens that can best uphold the laws of this land.”

Abdrabboh and ADC Attorney Reem Subei will serve as co-counsel on the case along with Attorney Shereef Akeel from Akeel and Valentine Law Firm.