Board Condemns Salah Sarsour’s Detention

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

The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Thursday formally condemning the federal government’s ongoing detention of Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and a prominent leader of Milwaukee’s Muslim community.

Sarsour, 53, is a lawful permanent resident who has lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years, according to the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), which has helped with his defense. Federal agents arrested him on March 30. Since then, he has been detained in Clay County.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims he was arrested for allegedly “funding terror organizations and lying on immigration forms,” and that the charges against him are based on a teenage conviction in Israel for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at the homes of Israeli armed forces and attempting to possess weapons and ammunition, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

His attorneys, family and community supporters say the allegations are not true and that he is being persecuted for his vocal support of the Palestinian people and his criticism of Israel. Sarsour, who was born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was arrested and tortured by Israeli security forces and sentenced on fraudulent charges by a military court, his attorneys and family say.

Othman Atta, executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, previously said the U.S. government has long been aware of Sarsour’s arrest while he was living under military occupation in the West Bank, and only now is it using this against him.

The resolution passed Thursday by the board “condemns the detention of community leader Salah Sarsour and asserts that the current allegations do not justify his continued separation from his family and community.” It follows an earlier resolution passed by the Common Council.

Sarsour’s attorneys have filed a habeas corpus petition, demanding the federal government justify his arrest and detention before a court. They have also filed a motion seeking his release pending the outcome of the habeas petition and his pending immigration case. U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore has met with Sarsour and repeatedly called for his release.

Sup. Caroline Gómez-Tom sponsored the resolution and asked her colleagues to join her Thursday and pass the resolution unanimously. She said the violation of Sarsour’s constitutional rights represents a challenge to everyone’s constitutional rights. Immigrant communities are under attack and

“I hope that as a board we can stand up to this, because an injustice to one person will eventually be an injustice to all of us,” Gómez-Tom said.

The resolution passed the board 16 to 2, with Supervisors Deanna Alexander and Patti Logsdon voting against it. Logsdon said she opposed it because it was “a federal issue,” while Alexander said the demand for immediate release is a “political judgment” that goes “far beyond defending rights.”

Sup. Justin Bielinski responded to Logsdon. “We could call this a federal issue if the federal government were acting in good faith… it is up to us to see when our local communities are being affected by gross injustice,” he said.

Sup. Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones echoed Bielinski, saying “I believe the power is in the people, whether it’s locally, federally, or whatever the case may be.”

Sup. Jack Eckblad said Sarsour’s detention is a result of the Trump administration’ “intentionally targeting leaders in a specific community for the sake of its psychological impact. Sup. Kathleen Vincent compared the detention of immigrants like Sarsour to the forced detention of Japanese citizens during World War 2. “I teach my students about this,” said Vincent, who works for Kenosha Unified School District. “It is wrong. It is wrong to take people without some sort of reason that they broke the law.”

A co-sponsor to the resolution, Sup. Juan Miguel Martinez said: “What we’re seeing is something that I’ve never seen in my lifetime, and as government officials are really to stand up for what’s right and to call things out when we see them.” After most of his colleagues took the floor to comment on the resolution, Martinez rose to speak again and put a finer point on what he thought others had alluded to: “He was detained for his stance on Palestine.”

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