For decades, the city of Amtrak in the state of Michigan was known as "Little Warsaw."
A city of only two square miles of crowded homes and factories, within spitting distance of downtown Detroit.
In the 99 years since its inception, every mayor has been Polish-American.
This situation is set to change on January 2, the centenary of the city, when Amer Galib becomes the first Muslim mayor and with him the entire Muslim city council will be sworn in.
With that, the Amtrak will become the first known city in the US with a government made up entirely of Muslims. The elected mayor, Galib, was born in Yemen and came to the United States alone as a young man, with almost no knowledge of the English language.
The City of Amtrak, Photo: Getty Images
In recent decades, the city has suffered from many problems - many of the second and third generation of its Polish-American residents have moved to the suburbs of Detroit or left for other places and many factories have closed.
Immigrants, mostly from Yemen and Bangladesh, have taken the place of the original inhabitants and the majority of the Materak are now Muslim.
"Tonight is a real example that the American dream is alive and well in the land of opportunity," Gallib told the excited crowd, who had gathered to celebrate his victory in the early November election.
He defeated the incumbent mayor, Karen Majevsky, who served in the post for 16 years.
There is currently only one member of the new council who is a native of the United States: Amanda Jachkowski. Her Polish-American family has lived in the city for five generations. She herself converted to Islam in 2012.
Karen Majevsky, former mayor of Hammartmak // Washington Post, Photo: Washington Post
"One of the main things people are worried about is that we are going to get rid of the bars and pubs. We can not get rid of them," Jachkowski told local media.
According to her, Islam outlaws alcohol for the followers of the faith, but not for anyone else: "These are not necessarily bad places that should be forbidden to exist. Full-fledged Muslims are not expected to live under the same rules that expect us to live by."
She added: "We are going to swear to defend the United States Constitution. And the United States Constitution includes a separation of religion and state."
The elected mayor and his council promise to ensure the separation of religion and state.
That's the law, they say, and their intent.
Gleev addressed the issue: "We are Muslims and proud of our beliefs and values. But we do not intend to try and impose them on others."
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