The president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, months after the State Department identified him as a threat to the U.S. foreign policy interest of combating antisemitism.
Salah Sarsour, 53, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and a Palestinian legal permanent resident of the United States, was arrested by ICE agents on Monday.
On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed his arrest and accused the religious leader of lying about his prior convictions in Israel as a minor for “throwing a Molotov cocktail at the homes of Israeli armed forces and illegally attempting to possess weapons and ammunition.”
Sarsour’s attorneys say U.S. authorities have long known about his convictions, which they said were spurious. They said they believe Sarsour is being targeted for his pro-Palestinian advocacy.
“Our government should not be doing the bidding of a foreign government,” one of his lawyers told the Associated Press. “There’s no question in my mind is that this is to stifle the discourse on the Palestinian narrative.”
The arrest appears to be the latest example of the Trump administration seeking to deport a non-citizen involved in pro-Palestinian activism, amid an ongoing crackdown that began with a spate of arrests of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campuses last year. Following legal challenges, none of the people arrested have been deported.
Months prior to his arrest, Secretary of State Marco Rubio identified Sarsour as a threat to the U.S. foreign policy interest of combating antisemitism, according to the New York Times.
“Salah Salem Sarsour is a terrorist convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces. This illegal alien from Jordan lied on his green card application to gain legal status in the U.S.,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump and ICE, this terrorist is out of American communities. This Administration will always put the safety of the American people FIRST and Make America Safe Again.”
Sarsour’s lawyers said his deportation paperwork identified him as a foreign policy threat, a claim they denied. A similar justification was used in the Trump administration’s ongoing deportation case against Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian protest leader at Columbia University.
Sarsour’s arrest has drawn condemnation from local religious leaders, Muslim groups and even the mayor of Milwaukee.
“The detention of Salah Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, is an outrage,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson tweeted. “He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong. This is another example of overreach and harm from the U.S. Immigration authorities.”
Sarsour, whose wife and four children are U.S. citizens, is being held at a detention center in Indiana, according to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. His attorneys have filed a petition seeking his release.
“He is ready to fight tooth and nail to make sure that he’s not drug through the mud,” Ahmad told the Associated Press. “He wants to stay in this country.”
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