Samirah was born in Chicago, Illinois, as a first generation American with Jordanian-Palestinian parents, on August 20, 1991. Samirah is biracial Afro-Arab. Samirah's parents are children of Palestinian refugees. Growing up in Chicago and it's suburbs, he "enjoyed a typical American childhood—watching basketball in the bleachers, riding bikes with my brothers, and then getting around to my homework". His mother was pursuing a special education Master's degree while working as a teacher and his father was completing a PhD in economics and public policy, working as an activist, becoming a community leader and registering Muslim voters. He was raised in the United States but that all changed for him in middle school when he and his family were forced to reunite in Jordan due to the George W. Bush administration's decision to deny Samirah's father re-entry into the United States. Attorney General, John Ashcroft, falsely deemed Samirah's father a security risk in 2003 when his father was returning home to Chicago after visiting Samirah's sick grandmother, forcing his father to go back to where he came from, Jordan. Samirah, watching his 11-year-old self on the evening news the night he found out he couldn't be with his father, remembers looking lost and thinking “I don’t know what the hell just happened.” At the time he recalls "playing for his middle-school basketball team and having his first crush on a classmate" when he was dealing with the newfound situation of being separated from his father. Eventually, he was exiled from Chicago to Amman where he and his family lived with Samirah’s grandparents. Samirah's Arabic wasn’t great, and he spoke with a thick American accent. In an interview with the Washingtonian, Samirah says “It was a very depressing time for at least two years.” After 11 years of forced family separation, Samirah's father was granted readmittance to the United States in 2014 after the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that Samirah's father had a right to return to the United States. Growing up, Samirah loved playing basketball and dreamed of playing in the NBA. About growing up abroad, Samirah says he "worked hard in school so I could one day return to the country I loved." In an interview with Her Campus, Samirah noted how "It’s hard Palestinian. Your parents tell you to not get involved in something that may harm your life , like activism. But it keeps me real with myself, keeps me close to my emotions and my people by seeing them at events. It actually kept me focused on studying, since it could have cost me my education." Samirah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in government and political science from American University in 2013, where, though Muslim, he was a member of the historically Jewish fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu, attracted by the chapter's progressive values and "respect for diversity." During his time at American University, he founded the first ever college chapter for Jewish Voice for Peace at American University. While a student, Samirah made posts on social media platforms which contained anti-Israel themes; he since apologized for "any pain that may have been caused by them." He earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University in 2017. While he attended dental school, Samirah was a member of the American Dental Association, Black Lives Matter, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
After Jennifer Boysko was elected to the Senate of Virginia, Samirah ran in the special election to complete the remainder of her term in the Virginia House of Delegates. Samirah defeated Republican Gregg G. Nelson and independent Connie H. Hutchinson, receiving 60% of the vote to Nelson's 34% and Hutchinson's 6%, on February 19, 2019. He was sworn in the next day, becoming the second Muslim elected to the Virginia General Assembly after fellow Democrat Sam Rasoul in 2014. State Delegate Samirah was reelected on November 5, 2019 in the general election for the Virginia House of Delegates. In that election, Samirah ran unopposed.
Policy positions
Samirah is a Democrat, that says he serves in Virginia’s House of Delegates "to give back—by helping families stay healthy, with more opportunities to succeed, and more time to spend together." Samirah clarifies his policy positioning by saying he strives to "bring Virginia into a new decade of progress by building an equitable, 21st century economy for the Commonwealth. As a dentist, sees improving public health as the central issue that touches all others. From housing affordability to women’s empowerment, to education and criminal justice, ultimate goal is to create healthier, happier, and more efficient communities. works to build the winning coalitions to do just that, and make Virginia a better place for all by lifting up those at the margins."
Samirah supports expanding union and worker rights such as removing Virginia's right-to-work law.
Zoning reform
He supports using state legislation to preempt local zoning ordinances to allow for more multi-family residential, high-density developments on properties currently zoned for single-family detached homes only. Samirah's proposed law would allow property owners to convert their properties from single-family units to two-family duplexes, townhouses, or cottages in both established and new neighborhoods without going through the existing local processes for rezoning a residential property.
Protesting
On July 30, 2019, Samirah was escorted out of a speech by Trump in Jamestown, Virginia after disrupting the event by standing up and waving card signs consisting of the words "Deport Hate," "Reunite My Family," and "Go Back to Your Corrupted Home." He opposes civility in defense of racism or bigotry, stating, "To the critics of incivility... I say it's time to think critically about whom such decorum has traditionally served: the white, wealthy, and comfortable."
