Dr. Hussein Abdel-Hak D.D.S. immigrated from Lebanon to the United States as a 17-year-old more than three decades ago. He wanted to achieve the "American Dream."
"I came here with the promise of a better future," said Abdel-Hak.
He worked hard, became a dentist and an owner of the Adonis Banquet Hall in Dearborn. Now he is helping others achieve their dreams. Many are Muslims like him.
"We came here because there is no discrimination," said Abdel-Hak. "You are protected by the law if there is any."
He is just one person 7 Action News interviewed in Dearborn, the city with the largest population of Muslims in the United States. With less than a week until Michigan's Primary Election Day, we wanted to hear from residents after the latest WXYZ/Detroit Free Press poll found a majority of Republican voters would support an immigration ban on Muslims.
Abdel-Hak has heard GOP Presidential Candidate Donald Trump talk about his stance on Muslims immigrating into this country.
"Donald Trump is calling for a total complete shut down of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on," said Trump of his stance earlier this year.
Our latest exclusive poll found that when Michigan's Republican voters were asked about Trump’s statement that he would ban all Muslims from entering the U.S. until America got a better handle on combating terrorism, 61% of agreed and 32% disagreed with the stance.
"What's going on is a game," said Abdel-Hak.
He says Trump is using fear of Muslims caused by extremist groups like ISIS to his political advantage. He says his religion isn't what people should be afraid of. He says the fact is the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world are enemies, many even targets of ISIS.
"Muslims are fighting ISIS in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Syria. All over the place," said Abdel-Hak.
He says to send the message that Muslims aren't welcome in the United States is dangerous.
Dawud Walid is the Executive Director of the Council on American–Islamic Relations. He agrees.
"It is dangerous. It is empowering the enemies of our country, who use the words of these bigots to recruit people," said Walid.
