Dearborn is defending its treatment of religious holidays after a federal lawsuit alleged taxpayer-funded favoritism toward Muslim celebrations over Christian and Jewish observances.
Journalist Margot Cleveland filed the lawsuit Thursday against the Michigan city and Democratic Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, an Associated Press account reported. Dearborn answered the allegations Saturday. The claims have not been resolved in court.
The complaint says Dearborn spent public money to celebrate Ramadan while denying comparable recognition for Easter, Passover, and other Christian and Jewish holidays. It seeks damages and a court order requiring equal constitutional treatment.
The lawsuit alleges that Dearborn spent $1,500 on Ramadan banners and another $5,000 on a crescent-moon display in Peace Park last year. It also says the police department sold Ramadan shirts bearing its official emblem.
Dearborn rejected the charge that it treats residents differently because of religion. A city spokesperson told AP News that Dearborn “has a longstanding commitment to serving all residents fairly and equitably, regardless of faith or background.”
Cleveland, a journalist for The Federalist, raised the holiday issue with local officials in April 2025, National Review reported. The American Freedom Law Center filed the complaint on her behalf, alleging that city officials retaliated after she spoke out.
The lawsuit says Cleveland repeatedly asked Dearborn to recognize other religious holidays and received no comparable response. Her case does not object merely to private Ramadan celebrations. It challenges the city’s use of tax money, public property, and official emblems.
That distinction matters. Residents remain free to celebrate their faith, but Cleveland alleges that city government placed its money and symbols behind one religion while ignoring requests from two others.
The dispute widened after Dearborn added crescent-and-star lights to municipal streetlights in February 2026, the New York Post reported. Hammoud described the expanded displays by saying, “This initiative reflects who we are as a city.”
Robert J. Muise of the American Freedom Law Center described the complaint more sharply. He said Dearborn funded Ramadan decorations while blocking a resident’s request for equal treatment.
“The City of Dearborn spent taxpayer money to light up its streets and parks for Ramadan while stonewalling a resident who simply asked that Easter, Passover, and other Christian and Jewish holy days be treated the same way.”
Dearborn’s answer focuses on its identity as a diverse and welcoming city. But the lawsuit poses a narrower question: whether city officials applied the same rules when residents sought public recognition for different faiths.
The complaint also points to Hammoud’s September 2025 confrontation with local pastor Ted Barham during a City Council meeting. Barham had criticized the naming of a street after Osama Siblani.
Barham called the street designation “quite inappropriate.” The lawsuit says he objected because Siblani had supported organizations designated as terrorist groups by the U.S. government.
The lawsuit alleges that Hammoud told Barham he was “not welcome” in Dearborn and said he would stage a parade when the pastor left. Fox News reported that plaintiffs cite the exchange as evidence of hostility toward Christian critics.
Hammoud has disputed the broader meaning placed on that confrontation. He said his anger concerned Barham personally and did not reflect hostility toward Christians or Jews.
“People misconstrue my words and my frustration with an individual who is a bad faith actor in our community, and apply it to a whole faith, when everyone knows the city of Dearborn is a place where everyone is welcome, Christian or Jew or whatever your background.”
Media attention to the council clash later brought conservative influencers to a November rally in Dearborn. The lawsuit now places that political dispute beside the city’s spending choices and Cleveland’s claims of unequal treatment.
The complaint uses sweeping language, alleging that Dearborn “has been a hostile place for Christians and Jews.” It further claims Hammoud conveyed that they were “second-class citizens.” Those remain allegations, not judicial findings.
The lawsuit asks a federal judge to find that Dearborn violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Those constitutional protections cover religious liberty and equal treatment under the law.
It also seeks unspecified damages and an order directing the city to comply with those amendments. No ruling on the allegations was included in the available court information.
Dearborn, a majority Arab American city of more than 100,000 residents, says criticism targets its character. A spokesperson said the city “has increasingly come under attack precisely because of its welcoming nature and the diversity of the people who proudly call Dearborn home.”
The city added that it would continue treating residents with “fairness, respect, and equal protection under the law.” That is also the standard Cleveland’s lawsuit asks a judge to enforce.
Diversity does not settle whether government treated competing religious requests alike. Spending records, city decisions, and the handling of Cleveland’s requests will matter more than broad claims about Dearborn’s reputation.
Equal treatment is not hostility to diversity. It is the basic rule public officials must follow when they spend the public’s money.
