For US Muslims, immigration crackdown fears, new war worries and anti-Muslim rhetoric cloud Ramadan

PATERSON, N.J. (AP) — Midway through Ramadan, Muslims across the United States are striving to maintain the holy month’s traditional mix of prayers and festive spirit under a cloud of worrisome events.

The federal government’s immigration crackdown has affected many of their communities. Virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric is surging. And now the Middle East — where many have loved ones — is buffeted by the Iran war.

In Paterson, New Jersey — home to one of the country’s highest per capita Muslim populations — 18-year-old Haneen Alatiyat regrets that fear and uncertainty are keeping many community members from gathering to embrace Ramadan's communal traditions.

“The meaning of the holiday is to be together with the people you love,” said Alatiyat, who is half Palestinian, half Jordanian.

“Unfortunately, because of the ICE raids that are happening, people don’t want to do that,” she added, speaking outside the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson about Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions happening under President Donald Trump. It's the mosque where she worships every year with family during Ramadan.

Paterson’s Palestinian community — one of the largest outside the Middle East — had been grieving loved ones and trying to help the survivors of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza even before the latest anxiety-fueling developments.

“This Ramadan has already been heavy for many families in our community with the immigration crackdowns,” said Rania Mustafa, executive director of the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, New Jersey.

“Now, as the war on Iran started, many people here are experiencing another layer of fear and grief,” she added.

In Minnesota, where many are reeling from the recent large-scale immigration crackdown, Ramadan came amid a powerful mix of emotions, according to Imam Yusuf Abdulle. He is executive director of the Islamic Association of North America.

Many feel “blessed that we are alive and well,” said Abdulle. “Also, we feel like we’re … bruised, affected, devastated economically, psychologically.”

Abdulle’s organization is an umbrella group for a number of Islamic centers, including some in Minnesota.

Abdulle said the Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center in Minneapolis, where he's on the board, has canceled hosting communal iftar, the sunset meals that break the daily fast, and instead is serving only dates and water. He attributed the change to the economic hit that many of the community’s businesses that typically would have sponsored such meals took during the crackdown, as people stayed away.

“Eating together and sharing stories while eating, it was beautiful,” he said. “I hope that comes back.”

Even after withdrawal of most of the roughly 3,000 immigration officers, some community members — especially asylum-seekers and refugees — remain cautious about venturing out, including to the mosque, Abdulle said.

“The fear … is very much there and it will be there for a while.”

Yet family nurse practitioner Munira Maalimisaq sees reason to be thankful amid the stresses. She works as CEO of Inspire Change Clinic, which serves marginalized communities in Minnesota.

“Even with the challenges, there’s a strengthened sense of community, resilience, and hope alongside the usual spiritual reflection, prayer, and charity that Ramadan brings,” she said.

Coinciding with Ramadan, some Muslim groups have issued know-your-rights guidance for navigating immigration enforcement interactions, including for mosques. The Muslim Public Affairs Council, for example, created a safety guide.

MPAC official Dahlia M. Taha said the included guidance for imams aims to help them address congregants’ fears without causing panic or spreading misinformation.

Questions from imams, she said, have included: Can houses of worship be subject to enforcement operations? How to reassure people without giving legal advice? How to address immigration anxiety while keeping Ramadan spiritually centered?

“There is a deep sense of community and peace that always comes with Ramadan,” said Taha, adding that many mosques are well-attended and families are gathering.

Nonetheless, “people are carrying fear, anxiety, and uncertainty alongside our faith,” she said. “Devotion and concern are existing side by side. I think everyone is just exhausted.”

Ibrahim Dyfan, executive director of Masjid Al Shareef, a 2,000-strong mosque in Long Beach, California, said his community, like other Muslim congregations, is coping with stress related to rising Islamophobia, immigration enforcement and the Middle East conflicts.

The mosque also boosted security for prayer services during Ramadan, he said.

“All we can do is continue praying and fasting,” he said. “This, like everything else, will pass. At the same time, we also need to pay attention to what is happening around us, and take the necessary precautions.”

A wave of anti-Muslim language intensified in Republican campaigns early this election year, most prominently in Texas, which held its primaries Tuesday. Gov. Greg Abbott, who clinched the GOP nomination for a fourth term, helped lead efforts to stop a Muslim-centered planned community near Dallas.

In Congress, several bills have been introduced recently targeting Shariah — the framework that guides Muslims, including on prayer and ethical conduct. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., in a recent social media post, compared Muslims unfavorably to dogs, prompting the Council on American-Islamic Relations and some Democratic members of Congress to call for his resignation.

Muslim American leaders view the vitriol as election-year scaremongering — more intense now than in recent campaign seasons. Their alarm was only partially eased by recent election victories for Muslim candidates, notably Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor of New York.

“Every election year, you see an increase in anti-Muslim bigotry in certain parts of the country, where politicians see Muslims Americans a useful political football,” said CAIR’s national deputy director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “We expect that — but it’s so much worse than usual this time.”

In Paterson, according to Rania Mustafa, many families worry about relatives in conflict-wracked parts of North Africa and the Middle East, including those in Gaza struggling to access sufficient food supplies.

But she is proud of her community’s perseverance.

“Despite what’s going on in the world, Ramadan reminds us of the strength and resilience of our community,” she said. “People are still gathering for prayer, sharing meals, checking on one another, and supporting families who are struggling.”

As the sun set on a section of Paterson’s Main Street renamed “Palestine Way” — flanked by Palestinian and U.S. flags — people arrived at homes and restaurants to break the fast on a recent evening. Some rushed to pastry shops, others headed to the Palestine Hair Salon.

Raed Odeh, the salon’s owner and top barber, lamented how the Middle East's tumult and the U.S. immigration crackdown were dampening what should be a joyful month.

“This is not only affecting those who don’t have documents, this is also affecting everyone else around,” said Odeh, Paterson’s deputy mayor, as he shaved a client’s beard.

Like other city leaders, he urged the release of Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman and Paterson resident who has been  held in an immigration jail for a year  after attending a protest in New York. Recently, Kordia said she suffered a seizure, an episode she linked to “inhumane” conditions inside the detention facility.

At a time of turmoil, Odeh said he shares the hope of many — regardless of their ethnicity or religion — during Ramadan: “Of course, everybody is hoping for peace.”

Fam reported from Cairo. AP journalists Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles and David Crary in New York contributed.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

A man walks near flags of the United States and Palestine as the sun sets in "Palestine Way," a section of Main Street in Paterson, N.J. during Ramadan on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

Raed Odeh, the owner and top barber of the Palestine Hair Salon shaves a man in Paterson, N.J., during Ramadan on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

Raed Odeh, the owner and top barber of the Palestine Hair Salon trims the hair of a man in Paterson, N.J., during Ramadan on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

Passersby walk in front of a mural in "Palestine Way," a section of Main Street in the South Paterson neighborhood of Paterson, N.J. during Ramadan on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

Congregants greet each other during Ramadan after attending prayers at the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson, N.J., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

A gas station in Paterson, N.J., is seen near a mural-sized image of the Dome of the Rock shrine at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City during Ramadan on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

Haneen Alatiyat, a member of the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson, N.J., poses for a portrait at the mosque's entrance during Ramadan on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

Leen Shella, center, and Haneen Alatiyat, right, prepare to encourage congregants to vote in the New Jersey primary elections during Ramadan outside the Islamic Center of Passaic County on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

CAIRO (AP) — The Trump administration is confronting mounting discontent from allies in the Persian Gulf who have complained they were not given adequate time to prepare for the torrent of Iranian drones and missiles bombarding their countries in retaliation for strikes launched by the U.S. and Israel.

Officials from two Gulf countries said their governments were disappointed in the way the U.S. has handled the war, particularly the initial attack on Iran last Saturday. They said their countries were not given advance notice of the U.S.-Israeli attack and complained the U.S. had ignored their warnings that the war would have devastating consequences for the entire region.

One of the officials said that Gulf countries were frustrated and even angry that the U.S. military has not defended them enough. He said there is belief in the region that the operation has focused on defending Israel and American troops, while leaving Gulf countries to protect themselves and said that his country’s stock of interceptors was “rapidly depleting.”

Like others in this story, the Gulf officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a confidential diplomatic matter.

The governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain did not respond to requests for comment.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in response: “Iran’s retaliatory ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90% because Operation Epic Fury is crushing their ability to shoot these weapons or produce more. President Trump is in close contact with all of our regional partners, and the terrorist Iranian regime’s attacks on its neighbors prove how imperative it was that President Trump eliminate this threat to our country and our allies.”

The Pentagon did not respond.

Official reactions by the Gulf Arab countries have been muted, but public figures with close ties to their governments have been openly critical of the U.S., suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dragged President Donald Trump into a needless war.

“This is Netanyahu’s war,” Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former Saudi intelligence chief, told CNN on Wednesday. “He somehow convinced the president (Trump) to support his views.”

Pentagon officials conceded this week in closed-door briefings with lawmakers they are struggling to stop waves of drones launched by Iran, leaving some U.S. targets in the Gulf region, including troops, vulnerable.

The Gulf countries have emerged as valuable targets for Iran, well within the range of Iran’s short-range missiles and filled with targets, including American troops, high-profile business and tourist locations and energy facilities, disrupting the world’s flow of oil.

Since the start of the war, Iran has fired at least 380 missiles and over 1,480 drones targeting the five Arab Gulf countries, according to an AP tally based on official statements. At least 13 people have been killed in those countries, according to local officials.

In addition, six U.S. soldiers were killed in Kuwait on Sunday when an Iranian drone strike hit an operations center in a civilian port, more than 10 miles from the main Army base. The husband of one of the slain soldiers, who was part of a supply and logistics unit based in Iowa, said the operations center was a shipping container-style building and had no defenses.

In briefings for members of Congress on Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers that the U.S. will not be able to intercept many of the incoming UAVs, especially the Shaheds, according to three people familiar with the briefings.

In one of the briefings, Caine and Hegseth did not offer any details when pressed by lawmakers why the U.S. did not seem prepared for Iran to launch waves of drones at U.S. targets in the region, according to one of the people.

That person, a U.S. official who is familiar with the U.S. security posture in Gulf region, said that the U.S. did not have widespread capabilities throughout the Gulf region to effectively counter waves of the one-way drones coming to places outside conventional targets or bases outside of Iraq and Syria.

Drone attacks this week at the embassy in Saudi Arabia caused a limited fire at the embassy in Riyadh, and another drone attack the United Arab Emirates sparked a small fire outside the U.S. consulate in Dubai.

The U.S. and its allies in the Middle East on Thursday even sought help from Ukraine, which has expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. When asked about Zelenskyy's comments, Trump told Reuters on Thursday, “Certainly, I’ll take, you know, any assistance from any country.”

Bader Mousa Al-Saif, a Kuwait-based analyst with Chatham House, said the U.S. appeared to have underestimated the risk to its Gulf Arab allies, believing American troops and Israel would be the primary targets of Iranian retaliation.

“I don’t think they saw that there would be as much exposure to the Gulf,” he said, saying the lack of a plan to protect the Gulf countries “speaks to U.S. short-sightedness.”

The frustration in some of the Gulf nations is driven in part by the relative success that Israel has had knocking down drones and missiles compared to some of their neighbors, according to a person familiar with the sensitive diplomatic matter who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Their air defense systems are hardly as robust as Israel’s, but according to the person, U.S. officials have been somewhat perplexed that the Gulf countries are still not showing an appetite for delivering a counteroffensive by launching missiles at Iranian targets.

Elliott Abrams, who served as a special representative for Iran and Venezuela at the end of Trump’s first term, said that U.S. national security officials and their Gulf allies were aware that Iran had the capability to carry out significant strikes.

“And the neighbors knew it and were afraid of it. But it was never clear that Iran would actually do it, because they have a lot to lose,” Abrams said. “These attacks will leave long-term enmity, and if they keep up, the Gulf Arabs may start attacking Iran.”

Michael Ratney, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said that while the Gulf countries have an interest in seeing Iran weakened, they also have key concerns about the ongoing war — including the economic damage and instability it is causing and its open-ended nature.

Ratney, who is now a senior adviser in the Middle East program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: “What comes next? The countries of the Gulf will have to bear the brunt of whatever that is.”

Price and Madhani reported from Washington. AP reporters Seung Min Kim, Konstantin Toropin, Ben Finley and Matt Lee in Washington, Danica Kirka and Susie Blann in London and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, speak during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Konstantin Toropin)

President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war during an event to honor the 2025 Major League Soccer champions Inter Miami CF in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)