I came to Michigan from Lebanon as an immigrant in 2002 and to be honest, I never cared about politics much. I didn’t register to vote until 2016. I didn’t want to be a part of the political process. Since 2016, I’ve gone through a complete transformation. I didn’t plan it, but I got into politics. I started canvassing for campaigns. I debated people on multimedia platforms nationally and internationally. I registered people to vote and drove them to the polls. In fact, I’ve registered more than 2,500 people to vote in the last two years. I feel it is my immigrant experience that made me resilient, and my American experience that made me ambitious.
The issue that tipped the balance for me was the Muslim Ban policy. I wear the hijab and live in Dearborn. I know many other Muslim women in Michigan who are also fired up about voting, ever since then.
Now I work as a political organizer and community organizer when I’m off the clock. I do a lot of community projects to empower immigrants from different backgrounds. In Dearborn, I’ve been helping to mobilize voters and get them out to vote through volunteering and working on several political campaigns at the local, state and national level. I also partnered with several NGO initiatives on voting education. And I mobilize immigrant and Arab American voters.
When I’m meeting immigrants, I talk about why voting is so powerful. I know that new immigrants to this country don’t always feel voting matters. We always remind them that their vote is a right that people fought for, and that exercising this right is their voice and power. I also talk about how becoming a citizen means you get a right to become part of the decision-making process. And that means voting. It’s part of your duty.
I especially enforce that idea for immigrant women, because if they’re like me, they’re used to being excluded back home. I work to try to shift that mentality and mindset. Here in the United States, I’ve seen a huge uptick in the involvement of women in politics. In particular, in the involvement of women like myself from the middle east. Naturalized citizens are now one in 10 eligible voters in America. We’re an emerging voting block that is multicultural, multiracial, and majority women. We’re also multi-generational.
Immigrants often feel they need to go to extra lengths to prove themselves. I’ve found that Arab women seize the opportunities we get. When we become more educated we realize representation matters. It’s not only in the political world. It’s also in other areas where we get to make decisions.
I’m also encouraging my relatives back home to be part of the political process there. Many women in the Arab countries feel that politics is beyond their influence. But I am inspired by the wave of young Arabs and immigrants who have pushed past political barriers and secured leadership roles in political and non-political arenas, especially women. And I want to share the idea that our voices matter, wherever we have the courage to raise them in the right way.
Michigan is going to be a state where every vote matters in the midterms. And the parties which want to emerge successful must remember immigrant voters. I’ve been registering people to vote at my Mosque every Friday for the last several weeks. I show up because Friday prayer is the major event of the week. It’s an opportunity to educate people. I tell them “there’s an election in November, are you registered to vote?”
It’s also about telling people it’s possible to vote as an absentee. It’s about bringing people’s attention to the process if they are hesitant. And remember, I’m only calling on people to vote. Not telling them who to vote for. I’m telling people it’s their duty to be part of the decision-making for their community. For their children. They get to decide who to vote for.
— Machhadie Assi lives and works in Dearborn, Michigan.
