Milwaukee Faith Leaders and Community Demand Release of ICE-Detained Islamic Society President

Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident and president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, has been held by ICE since March 30. His arrest has sparked an outcry from Milwaukee’s religious leaders, elected officials, and community advocates who insist his detention is politically motivated and unjust.

Sarsour’s attorneys assert that the government’s claim he poses a foreign policy threat is baseless. The Department of Homeland Security alleges he funded terrorist organizations and lied on immigration paperwork, but supporters say these charges are a pretext to silence a vocal critic of Israel.

Janan Najeeb, executive director of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, told WUWM that Sarsour’s detention signals a dangerous disregard for law, order, and constitutional rights. “This is an individual who is not just a faith leader. He’s a father, a grandfather, a businessman, a philanthropist,” Najeeb said. “To see someone like him treated as a political prisoner is unprecedented.”

Najeeb described the broader impact on faith communities, noting that the arrest has moved beyond fear to outrage. “We’re dealing with an administration that has gone rogue,” she said. “The amount of support pouring in from all over Wisconsin and the country shows how sick people are of the erosion of civil rights and due process.”

The detention of a prominent faith leader with decades of residency in the U.S. stands out as a particularly aggressive move by ICE, raising alarms about the targeting of political dissent under the guise of immigration enforcement.

As protests continue and calls for Sarsour’s release grow louder, community leaders hope the widespread outrage will translate into meaningful resistance against the administration’s authoritarian tactics. Najeeb pointed to recent nationwide protests drawing millions as evidence that many Americans are ready to stand up for justice and democratic principles.

Sarsour’s case exemplifies the Trump administration’s pattern of weaponizing immigration enforcement to intimidate and silence marginalized voices — a direct attack on the democratic fabric and civil rights protections that should be inviolable.