■ The eldest of 14 children born to Palestinian immigrants in Detroit, Rashida Tlaib is a 42-year-old Michigan-based attorney and politician.
■ Her grandfather emigrated from Palestine to Brazil during the US depression and eventually moved to Detroit to find better opportunities.
■ Tlaib’s father grew up in occupied East Jerusalem and joined his grandfather at Detroit when he was 19.
■ Tlaib served in the Michigan House from 2009 until 2014.
■ Since leaving the legislature, she has worked as an attorney for the Sugar Law Centre for Economic and Social Justice.
■ Her views align with the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party, and she says she’ll push for universal Medicare, a $15 (Dh55) minimum wage, sustainable environmental policies, public school funding and fair immigration policies.
■ Tlaib would be the first Muslim woman to occupy a seat in the US Congress, but she would not be the first Palestinian-American. A lawmaker from western Michigan, US Representative Justin Amash, is the son of a Palestinian refugee father and Syrian immigrant mother.
