Dearborn, Michigan — Sen. Bernie Sanders rallied a crowd of local blue collar workers, estab­lishment socialists, LGBT rights activists, and enthu­si­astic college stu­dents with his pro-working class message at a rally at the United Auto Workers’ union Local 600 in Dearborn Monday evening.

In his first Michigan cam­paign visit for this year’s pres­i­dential elec­tions, Sanders tai­lored his stump speech to his audience — again promising assis­tance in the wake of the Flint water crisis.

“Imagine being the mom of a bright young daughter and seeing that child men­tally dete­ri­orate in front of your eyes from being a bright good student to a student who is now, I believe, in special ed,” Sanders said. “I feel very much that Flint is the canary in the coal mine here.”

Sanders said that as pres­ident, he would create an economy that works for the working class, investing 1 trillion dollars in infra­structure, create 13 million decent-paying jobs, and raise the “star­vation” wage of $7.25 per hour to $15.

“We are living in a nation which has more income and wealth inequality than vir­tually any major nation on earth,” he added. “Together we’re going to create an economy that works for the working class, not just the one percent. We are going to rebuild cities like Flint.”

Held in the indus­trial sector of Dearborn, the rally attracted a variety of attendees. Jaq Arnt­field, a sup­porter who trav­elled from Jef­ferson County, Ohio, to help with crowd control, happily expressed her enthu­siasm:

“He believes in every­thing that I have ever since I can remember,” Arnt­field said. “It’s amazing to see somebody who can really help us create the change come along and run for pres­ident.”

Hun­dreds of sup­porters waited in the snow for hours to be admitted to the invi­tation-only event, forming a line which stretched around the UAW building.

“We want work! We want work! We want work!” the crowds yelled spo­rad­i­cally in the hour before the event began.

“I think he’s the best can­didate for us eco­nom­i­cally and foreign policy-wise,” Richard Walker, a Sanders sup­porter said. “His eco­nomic plan is far and away the best of all the can­di­dates. He properly sup­ports the best interests of the middle class and the poor in this country.”

“The thing he’s most vocal about is the income inequality, and the dis­par­ities in general when it comes to social issues — specif­i­cally white priv­ilege and mass incar­cer­ation,” Sanders sup­porter Rasha Almu­laiki added. “I support him because I feel like he’s our best chance at actually actu­al­izing on a lot of the issues that we’ve been frus­trated about.”

When Sanders men­tioned Repub­lican fron­trunner Donald Trump’s policy of excluding Muslims from the country, the Dearborn crowd jeered: Dearborn has the highest Muslim pop­u­lation in the United States. The Local 600 UAW is sur­rounded by Arab-American-owned eateries and busi­nesses.

According to Sanders, de-indus­tri­al­ization is the cause of the dis­ap­pearance of the middle class. The senator explained that he wants to bring industry from China back to America.

“We do not need unfet­tered free trade, we need fair trade,” he said, to loud cheers.

Sanders also attacked the policies former pres­i­dents, espe­cially George W. Bush’s administration’s Middle East policy.

“If we can rebuild vil­lages in Iraq and Afghanistan, we can damn well rebuild Flint, Michigan,” Sanders said.

The socialist can­didate has struggled against opponent former Sec­retary of State Hillary Clinton to secure an endorsement from UAW. While the orga­ni­zation has not pledged support to either can­didate so far, UAW Vice Pres­ident Cindy Estrada is a firm Sanders sup­porter.

“Bernie talks the talk and walks the walk on picket lines with workers,” Estrada tweeted on Feb. 4.

“I’m angry that some would imply that Women who support Bernie don’t support women. Not pro­ductive not true!” she tweeted at Sanders and Clinton on Feb. 9.

On his tuition-free edu­cation policy, Sanders went all out.

“Last I heard, getting an edu­cation is not a crime to be pun­ished,” he said, to ecstatic cheers. “I believe that in the year 2016 when we talk about public edu­cation, it’s not good enough just to be talking about first grade through 12th grade, we’ve got to make sure that public col­leges and uni­ver­sities are tuition-free.”

Attendees were opti­mistic about his ability to pay for such an extensive project.

“He’s going to invest in that and cut costs in other areas,” said Laurie Cheaito of Dearborn, whose interest in Sanders as a can­didate she said was peaked in the last few debates.

“I think it’s doable,” Sanders sup­porter Rasha Almu­laiki said, of his tuition-free edu­cation policy. “I think that the ones who are saying that it’s not real­istic are the ones who are not willing to give up the large amounts of money that are put into the mil­itary instead of fos­tering edu­cation at home.”

Arnt­field said that her young daughter wishes she could vote for Sanders in the upcoming election, citing free edu­cation, a $15 minimum wage, and LGBT rights, and women’s rights her own top con­cerns this election. Arnt­field will vote for them both at the March 8 primary.

“I was telling my daughter about him… I said, ‘I’m doing this for you, for your future,’” Arnt­field said.