Judge orders Wisconsin mosque leader released from ICE detention

A federal judge has ordered the release of Salah Sarsour, the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, after finding that he raised a substantial claim that immigration officials detained him in retaliation for his public advocacy for Palestinian rights.

U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon ruled Thursday that Sarsour’s speech was protected by the First Amendment and that his continued detention could be unlawful. Hanlon ordered Sarsour released on personal recognizance, without a cash bond, and required him to remain in Wisconsin while his case proceeds.

“The mere invocation of foreign relations concerns does not automatically trump First Amendment rights,” Hanlon wrote in the decision, according to Al Jazeera.

Sarsour, 53, is a legal permanent resident who has lived in the United States for more than three decades. He is president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and a board member of American Muslims for Palestine. He describes himself as a stateless Palestinian, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement says he is a Jordanian citizen. Immigration officials approved his citizenship application years ago, though he did not naturalize.

Sarsour was arrested by ICE agents in late March and detained at the Clay County jail in Indiana while facing deportation proceedings. The Guardian reported that plainclothes ICE officers from at least 10 unmarked vehicles swarmed him on March 30; Al Jazeera reported his car was pulled over on March 31. He was released several hours after Hanlon’s ruling.

“I am so relieved to be with my family. For 80 days, I haven’t been able to step outside and breathe fresh air,” Sarsour said in a prepared statement cited by Al Jazeera. “This experience is a reminder to all of us that we must fight together for our right to be a voice for the silenced. I will never stop speaking for Palestine and humanity, wherever I am.”

His lawyers said Sarsour, who has type 2 diabetes, lost more than 30 pounds during nearly three months in detention. The Guardian reported that his legal team told the court he was at “constant risk of developing serious complications from diabetes” because medical staff checked his blood sugar only once a month.

The Department of Homeland Security has described Sarsour as a “criminal and a terrorist,” citing convictions from more than three decades ago in Israel. Government lawyers said he should be deported based on convictions for throwing a Molotov cocktail and attempting to store weapons and ammunition. Al Jazeera reported DHS also accused him of lying on his green card application and failing to disclose a conviction by an Israeli military court for allegedly throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces.

Sarsour denies the allegations. Hanlon questioned why the government now considered him a threat after knowing about the convictions since the 1990s and later approving his permanent residency and citizenship application.

The Guardian reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a memo to the Department of Homeland Security last year saying Sarsour was deportable despite his green card because “his actions undermine US foreign policy to combat antisemitism around the world.” The memo accused American Muslims for Palestine of involvement in activities providing funds to Hamas.

Hanlon wrote that Sarsour’s advocacy for Palestinian rights “is core political speech and squarely within the scope of the First Amendment,” according to The Guardian. The judge said Sarsour had presented evidence allowing a reasonable inference that his protected speech was “at least a motivating factor” in the government’s decision to detain him.

Sarsour’s legal team welcomed the ruling. “Salah Sarsour, who has lived in this country for more than three decades and served as a core pillar in his community without any issues, should never have been detained in the first place,” the lawyers said. “While we continue to fight these baseless claims in court, today is about celebrating a family being reunited.”