A federal judge has ordered the release of the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, ruling that immigration officials likely detained him in retaliation for his public advocacy for Palestinian rights, thereby suppressing his First Amendment rights.
Judge’s Ruling
U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon’s order on Thursday was a sharp rebuke against Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had portrayed Salah Sarsour as a national security threat. Hanlon found that Homeland Security officials and Rubio probably violated Sarsour’s free speech rights and appeared to have arrested him in retaliation for his advocacy.
“Salah Sarsour, who has lived in this country for more than three decades and served as a core pillar in his community without any issues, should never have been detained in the first place,” his legal team stated. “While we continue to fight these baseless claims in court, today is about celebrating a family being reunited. It is also a sober reminder that, if the government can target Mr Sarsour, everyone’s free speech rights are at risk.”
Background
Sarsour describes himself as a stateless Palestinian, according to the order. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) claims he is a Jordanian citizen. He has lived in the United States for over 30 years, becoming a legal permanent resident in 1998. Immigration officials approved his citizenship application decades ago, though he did not naturalize.
Sarsour has gained public attention as a champion for Palestinian rights and serves on the board of American Muslims for Palestine, an advocacy group.
Rubio personally signed off on a memo to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last year, describing Sarsour as deportable despite his green card, because “his actions undermine US foreign policy to combat antisemitism around the world.” The memo, cited in Hanlon’s order, accuses Sarsour’s group of being “found to have been involved in activities providing funds to Hamas.”
Arrest and Detention
On March 30 of this year, plainclothes ICE officers from at least 10 unmarked vehicles arrested Sarsour and placed him in deportation proceedings. He was detained at the Clay County Jail in Indiana.
The order notes that Sarsour lost 30 pounds while detained. His lawyers told the court he was “at constant risk of developing serious complications from diabetes given that the medical staff only checks his blood-sugar levels once a month.” Tightly controlling diabetes typically requires multiple glucose checks daily.
First Amendment Violation
Hanlon’s order cited a New York Times story and the Heritage Foundation’s website, noting that the conservative think tank behind Project 2025 presented the White House with the idea to target prominent foreign-born Muslims and Palestinian rights leaders as terrorists to sue, deport, or pressure employers to fire them. Sarsour was likely among the targets.
The federal government argued that Sarsour should be deported based on two convictions from over 30 years ago in Israel—one for throwing a Molotov cocktail and another for attempting to store weapons and ammunition. Sarsour denies committing those crimes.
However, Hanlon viewed those convictions as irrelevant to justifying his incarceration, noting that the government knew about them since the 1990s and still approved his permanent residency and citizenship application.
Sarsour’s speech on Palestinian rights “is core political speech and squarely within the scope of the First Amendment,” the order states. “Mr Sarsour has submitted evidence allowing a reasonable inference that his protected speech was ‘at least a motivating factor’ in Respondents’ decision to detain him.”
Release Conditions
A DHS spokesperson described Sarsour as a “terrorist,” citing the youth convictions in Israel. Government lawyers argued that Sarsour did not have the same First Amendment rights as U.S. citizens and proposed a $25,000 bond, ankle monitor, routine ICE check-ins, and house confinement if released.
Instead, Hanlon ordered his release on personal recognizance, meaning Sarsour does not have to pay a cash bond to ensure his court appearance. However, he must remain in Wisconsin.
