Salah Sarsour, a beloved community leader, was detained by ICE on Monday, March 30, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A lawful permanent resident of more than 30 years with no criminal record in the United States, Salah was stopped by more than ten ICE agents while picking up mail and taken into custody. He was taken from Milwaukee to Broadview Detention Center in Chicago, then transferred to Indiana, leaving his family scrambling for answers about his whereabouts.

Salah is a father, a grandfather, a devoted husband, and a deeply respected leader whose impact is felt across Milwaukee and beyond. Through his work, he has supported families, created jobs for those in need, and helped build organizations that uplift immigrant, Palestinian, and Muslim communities across Wisconsin. Those who know him know his commitment to service is real, lasting, and deeply rooted.

His detention relies on allegations tied to a decades-old conviction from an Israeli military court when he was a teenager, a system that has long been criticized for lacking basic due process protections. At the same time, it’s clear that Salah has been targeted and abducted for his advocacy, for speaking out against the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and across occupied Palestine. He is being singled out for who he is and what he represents: a Palestinian Muslim leader who has refused to stay silent. At its core, this raises profound questions about the violation of his First Amendment right to speak out against injustice.

Salah’s story represents exactly the kind of life this country claims to value: someone who built a family, contributed to his community, and used his voice to advocate for others. And yet, he now sits in detention, his rights and his future uncertain.

Salah was finally released by order of the federal district court on June 18^th. While in custody, he lost more than 30 pounds, was not provided with the necessary health care – including daily monitoring of his blood glucose levels, the minimum requirement for anyone with Type-2 diabetes, which Salah has. He was also denied access to religious materials and adequate space for prayer.  

In his ruling, a U.S. District Court Judge in Indiana confirmed what we’ve known: that Salah’s detention is, in all likelihood, an act of unlawful retaliation for exercising his free speech rights in support of the rights and lives of the Palestinian people.

This administration is undermining the justice system and our constitution to silence voices that are critical of Israeli genocide, apartheid, and occupation across Palestine.  We've seen this pattern with Mahmoud Khalil, Leqaa Kordia, Mohsen Mahdawi, and other Palestinian and pro-Palestine voices. While Israel loses American public support, pro-Israeli figures and administrations are leveraging our courts to silence Palestinian voices and undermine constitutional rights.

While Salah’s release is a huge victory, this fight isn’t over. He was granted bail, which means that the case against him continues even though he is out. The government prosecution has repeatedly attempted to violate Salah’s due process rights throughout the court case, even trying to force him to testify without seeing the evidence against him in a deeply un-American attack on our most important constitutional rights. As such, taking action to stand with Salah is more important than ever and is the only way we can ensure that his constitutional rights are protected. 

The government's attack on Salah is structural racism in action, and part of the broader assault on immigrant communities across the United States, including Palestinian and Muslim communities, weakening our democracy and eroding human rights for everyone. This coordinated attack on immigrant and Palestinian voices builds precedents that strip away legal protections for all of us.

Take Action for Salah

We need every single community member, ally, and American to make noise about Salah's case. Our collective voices can break through the silence and force accountability. We know what it means to be othered and targeted by state violence, and we will not surrender our rights or values. Salah’s legal battle continues, and sustained community outcry helps ensure that his case receives the attention and fairness it deserves.