Legal Battle Builds Over ICE Detention of Milwaukee Community Leader

Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. Submitted photo from the Islamic Society of Milwaukee

Attorneys for the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee plan to fight for his release from custody after his detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities.

Salah Sarsour, who is also a board member for the American Muslims for Palestine and a prominent pro-Palestinian activist, was detained by ICE agents after he left his home in Franklin on March 30. He grew up in the Israeli occupied West Bank but has been a legal resident of the Milwaukee community for more than 32 years.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has accused him of lying on his immigration forms in order to receive his green card. Those authorities also said Sarsour is suspected of funding terror organizations, an accusation his attorney called “absolutely fabricated.”

Sarsour is currently being held at the Clay County Justice Center in Indiana. His supporters believe his arrest was politically motivated because of his pro-Palestinian activism.

He had his first hearing in immigration court scheduled for April 13. But his attorney Munjed Ahmad said that hearing has been moved to April 27, a move he had anticipated.

“It’s probably going to be very procedural, meaning that not much is going to happen, and I expect that ultimately there will be another court date given,” Ahmad said.

Salah Sarsour. Photo submitted

That initial hearing, called a “master hearing,” will be held at Kansas City Immigration Court, according to Ahmad. He said Kathryn Brady, the immigration department head for the Muslim Legal Fund of America, is also representing Sarsour.

Ahmad said they have already filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court to seek his removal from detention. He said they plan to file an amended writ soon.

“It’s our position that he should be released and that his detention is unconstitutional,” Ahmad said.

Ahmad said he wouldn’t discuss the team’s legal strategy Monday.

“The legal team still has … its work to do,” Ahmad said.

In a statement, DHS called Sarsour “a convicted criminal who LIED on his immigration forms.” A statement from DHS Office of Public Affairs Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said Sarsour was convicted of “throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces.”

The statement also said Sarsour was “suspected of funding terror organizations.”

Ahmad said that the claim is “absolutely fabricated and false.”

A crowd fills the Islamic Society of Milwaukee Community Center in support of Salah Sarsour, the group’s president who was detained by ICE, on Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

The DHS statement did not provide a timeline of his conviction. But Sarsour’s supporters said he was convicted when he was young. According to the Islamic Society, when he was a teenager living on the West Bank, Sarsour was “seized by the occupying Israeli forces.” The organization said he was “tried and sentenced on fraudulent charges.”

Othman Atta, the executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, said Sarsour served two years in an Israeli prison.

“Everything stems from the false allegations that Israel made when he was a minor,” Atta said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sarsour was a threat to foreign policy, according to a New York Times report. But Ahmad said Sarsour has lived in the United States for over 30 years and has no criminal record.

“I think the reality of what they’re saying is that they don’t like the things that he says, and they think the things that he says, is, in their opinion, adverse to foreign policy,” Ahmad said. “But you know, that’s why we live in the United States, it’s a free country, he should be able to say what he wants to say.”

Milwaukee immigration attorney Marc Christopher, who is not representing Sarsour in his case, said when someone is a lawful permanent resident, it’s up to the federal government to “show why the person is removable.”

“And they have to do so by clear and convincing evidence,” Christopher said.

DHS said Sarsour applied for his immigrant visa at the American Consulate in Jerusalem but he was denied, “due to his convictions in Israel for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the homes of Israeli armed forces and illegally attempting to possess weapons and ammunition.” However, Atta has said the U.S. government was aware of his past record.

The DHS statement said he eventually received his green card in 1998.

On Monday, Bis said Sarsour “failed to disclose his criminal history on multiple immigration applications.”

Local and national groups and leaders have spoken out against Sarsour’s detainment over the past few days.

“We must be clear that Salah is being targeted on the basis of his Palestinian and Muslim background,” a statement from the American Muslims for Palestine said.

Salah Sarsour’s family speaks to a crowd gathered to support him on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee Community Center in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Attorneys for Islamic Society of Milwaukee leader will push for his release from custody was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.