Chicago: In a historic decision on Tuesday a Somali refugee and the daughter of Palestinian immigrants became the first two Muslim women to be elected to the US Congress.
Both Ilhan Omar, 37, and Rashida Tlaib, 42 — are Democrats from the Midwest and are advocates of minority communities that have found themselves in the sights of anti-immigrant policies under the US President Donald Trump.
IIhan Omar won a House seat in a strongly dominated Democratic district in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by defeating Keith Ellison who was himself the first Muslim ever elected to the Congress, and Rashida Tlaib ran unopposed in a congressional district that stretches from Detroit to Dearborn, Michigan
Ilhan Omar is a Muslim and black, the hijab-wearing women said in a recent magazine interview. “I decided to run because I was one of many people, I knew who really wanted to demonstrate what representative democracies are supposed to be,”.
IIhan Omar flee’s from Somalia’s civil war with her parents at the age of 8 years and spent 4 years at a kenyan refugee camp. Her family settled in Minnesota in 1997, where there is a sizable Somali population.
Rashida Tlaib is the Detroit born eldest daughter of Palestinian immigrants who has 13 siblings. A fighter once who heckled US President Donald Trump during a 2016 campaign stop in Detroit.
She Flashed a trail through Michigan politics, becoming the first Muslim woman to serve in the Michigan state legislature in 2008. she emerged as the winner in august in a Democratic primary for a seat vacated by John Conyers, a long-time liberal lion who stepped down in December on allegations of sexual harassment and bad health
With no opponent from Republican in the race, Tlaib’s election on Tuesday became a formality.