sylwia kapuscinski

Muslims In America: Middle East In The Midwest

We know them by their faith: rows of bearded men bent in prayer, women draped in black.

Since Patriot Act has been passed, they have been singled out to be detained and deported by the thousands. They face terrorism trials, suspicion, fear, war.

Beyond the deportation statistics are the individual lives. They are the difficult, intimate stories of illegal immigrants caught in a system where they have no rights, no voice.

The Muslim community in metropolitan Detroit struggles to work, go to school, contact relatives overseas, and even celebrate a wedding, under great duress. It is a community of lives lived underground, and in the shadow of stereotypes.

At her home in Dearborn Heights, Fatme Mahmoud, 11, watches her grandmother Badrie Beydoun, 54, pray for her son-in-law’s release from prison. Tamer Mahmoud, 50, is in federal custody and is scheduled for deportation.
   
Ifra Ahmed, 10, looks back towards the United States as she and her family cross Ambassador Bridge to seek asylum in Canada.
  
Nafisa Zulfiqar, 26, left, holding her daughter Heena Ahmed, 13 months, walks nervously at the Canadian Immigration office waiting area as her husband Zulfiqar and her oldest son Abdul, 12, are interviewed inside by Canadian immigration officials. Zulfiqar Ahmed's cousin, Kishwer Sultana, 28, right, waits with her children Humza, 11 months, right, and Zain, 2.
     
  
On the streets of Dearborn, Iraqis burn a photo of the deposed Iraqi president in front of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center on Warren Avenue, in Dearborn, Michigan. The city has a large Arab-American population and news of Saddam Hussein’s capture brought demonstrators out is celebration.
   
Iraqi community of metro Detroit celebrate Saddam Hussein's capture on Warren Ave. in Dearborn, Michigan.
  
Rasila Al-Jebori, of Detroit, 53, left, celebrates the fall of Baghdad with other Iraqi women in front of Karbala Islamic Education Center on Warren Avenue in Dearborn, Michigan.
     
  
An Iraqi refugee Loey Al-Mosawi of Detroit, 37, eats lunch and with his family from left, Sijoud, 12, Sajad, 10, Baneen, 7, his wife Bushra Al-Maliki, 31, and Heneen, 6, at their home in Dearborn, Michigan. The family, who left Iraq after the war in 1991, hopes to go back to live in post-Saddam Iraq.
   
Bushra Al-Almaliki, 31, prays at her home in Dearborn, Michigan. Al-Almaliki has three sisters, two brothers, and her parents in Iraq.
   
Sijoud Al-Mosawi, 12, right, who's parents immigrated from Iraq, plays a video game at home as her little sister Baneen, 7, plays on her rocking horse. Sijoud says she wants to live in Iraq.
     
  
   
Adel Al-Hakeem kisses his friend Hussein Karkhi at Imam Ali Islamic Center in Detroit.
   
Mohamad Hachem, 20, right, kisses Koran during his engagement ceremony at Heritage Manor in Dearborn, Michigan. Hachem's wife-to-be Zina Merhi, 18, seated, and Merhi's grandmother, Fahime, 63, standing from left, aunt Najah, 33, and mother Kathy, 44, look on.
     
  
Mlaak Omar, 12, left, and Zakya Alhag, 13, practice cheerleading moves in preparation for team tryouts at Lowrey School in Dearborn, Michigan. If they make the team, Omar and Alhag, who are both Muslims, will be able to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants during their performances in accordance with Islamic standards of modesty.