World Bulletin / News Desk

A Dearborn Heights resident, Fatima Dacroub was on vacationat the Lake Michigan Sand Dunes with her children and relatives on May 17 when a sheriff’s deputy pulled her over while she was driving a rented vehicle. The family was located in a parking lot designated for tourists.

The officer claimed she was speeding and questioned her UAE driver’s license. Dakroub had often traveled back and forth between the UAE and Michigan in recent years. Her Michigan driver’s license had expired, but under state law, she was still able to operate a vehicle with a UAE driver’s license and was using that licence to rent the vehicle.

According to the Arab American news, a deputy questioned a ticket Dakroub had received in the county in 2011, claiming it was unpaid. She told the officer that she had paid the ticket years ago. Dakroub was then arrested, and was asked to remove her hijab while three male officers were present. She objected at first and asked for a female officer to assist her. She was told by the officers that she had to comply under the law.

A tearful Dakroub told reporters that the incident has scarred her and her family. She described the police officers as cruel and insensitive to her religious requests.

After Dakroub removed her scarf, the police officers told her she would not be able to put it back on. She was not allowed to place a phone call until three hours after her arrest and was placed in a cell where other inmates were able to look at her.

On Thursday, the Arab-American Civil Rights League who is representing Dakroub have  sent a federal complaint to the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Michigan. The complaint asks for a federal judge to rule that the Oceana County Sherriff’s Department’s practices be deemed unconstitutional under the first amendment.