State Rep. Iman Jodeh speaks at an event hosted by Colorado’s Black Democratic Legislative Caucus to provide a 2023 legislative preview at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance in Denver, Jan. 25, 2023. (Kevin Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)
A new legislative caucus in the Colorado House of Representatives seeks to elevate the concerns of the Muslim, Middle Eastern, Northern African and South Asian communities in Colorado as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
“This past year and an impending Trump administration has underscored the need to create a united caucus that ensures our community’s representation and presence is elevated and has an uncompromising agency at the Capitol,” Democratic Rep. Iman Jodeh, an Aurora Democrat, said in a statement announcing the caucus formation.
Jodeh is the first Muslim and first Palestinian American elected to the Colorado Legislature. She won a third term to House District 41 with over 60% of the vote earlier this month. She has been a member of the Black Democratic Legislative Caucus since 2020.
She is joined by Rep.-elect Yara Zokaie, the first Iranian American elected to the Legislature. Zokaie will represent House District 52, south of Fort Collins.
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The mission of the Joint MENASA and Muslim Caucus — the acronym is for Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian — will be to protect civil rights and combat xenophobia and Islamophobia through the lawmaking process and public engagement.
History Colorado estimates that about 70,000 Muslims live in Colorado. The Census Bureau estimates that about 42,000 Arab Americans live in Colorado.
The caucus also aims to ensure representation for the MENASA population in Colorado who are in the Sikh, Baháʼí, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Catholic minorities.
“These communities also face anti-Arab and anti-Brown hate crimes, xenophobia, and discrimination. Our region and population are unique because we are forced to identify primarily through religious narratives rather than our unified identities. It is time to challenge this monolithic framing,” Jodeh said.
The Colorado Legislature reconvenes Jan. 8, shortly before Trump is sworn in to his second term as president. Early in his first term, he signed an executive order banning people from a handful of Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. That order faced legal backlash but certain provisions ultimately went into effect.
Additionally, there has been a sharp rise in anti-Muslim incidents across the country as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.
“With the approaching Trump presidency, it is more important than ever for our communities to have fierce advocates and mount a proactive and comprehensive defense. Should Trump attempt to reinstate a Muslim ban, we will be ready to put protections in place,” Zokaie said.
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