The Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations received a record number of civil rights complaints last year, according to the annual report filed by the Muslim advocacy organization on Tuesday. Nearly 500 people reported instances in which they felt their rights were violated in 2025 — a 25% increase from the year prior.
“We are seeing a direct impact of government policies and institutional decisions that disproportionately affect Muslim communities, whether through law enforcement practices, administrative actions or policies that create barriers to religious accommodations and equal protection in public life,” said CAIR-Michigan staff attorney Amy Doukoure at a press conference on Tuesday announcing the release of the annual report.
The vast majority of those complaints, Executive Director Dawud Walid said in a press conference, referenced civil rights infractions carried out by government agencies or public institutions.
"Basically 8 out of 10 of our complaints relate to an institution that is discriminating against Muslims, that is taxpayer funded,” Walid said.
He said the complaints cited government agencies such as the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Patrol, as well as public schools and universities.
In 2024, free speech issues dominated complaints, especially from people who felt wrongfully targeted for their pro-Palestinian stance. That shifted last year when most complaints fit into a category CAIR titled "traveling while Muslim." These included additional security screenings at airports and being detained at the border.
Jad Salamy, an attorney with CAIR-Michigan, said the complaints show that what Muslims in the state are experiencing isn't just "random acts of bigotry."
"We are facing a coordinated system of government overreach. It's the family being pulled aside and harassed by CBP agents at the Detroit-Windsor tunnel,” he said. “It's the student whose phone is searched at the airport for no reason."
CAIR-Michigan filed lawsuits and civil rights complaints to the Department of Justice seeking redress for what it saw as illegal actions.
An annual report that was released on Tuesday by the national CAIR organization also pointed to a record number of civil rights complaints.
“Government actions and official rhetoric treated Muslims—and people who speak up for Palestinian human rights—as suspicious and outside the circle of protected religious and civic life in 2025,” the authors of the report wrote. “Government action moves faster than judicial review. As a result, even well-established freedoms such as religious exercise, speech, association, property ownership can be narrowed in practice.”
