Milwaukee Common Council condemns detention of Islamic Society leader Salah Sarsour 

The Milwaukee Common Council on April 21 unanimously passed a resolution condemning the federal detention of Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, and calling for his immediate release.

Dozens of supporters filled the council chamber gallery during the meeting, many holding signs reading “Free Salah.”

The nonbinding resolution, sponsored by several alderpersons including Alex Brower, Sharlen Moore, Larresa Taylor, JoCasta Zamarripa and José Pérez, passed 12-0 with three members absent. While the council has no authority to release Sarsour, the measure aims to draw attention to the case and reaffirm support for due process rights.

“This isn’t just about Salah. It’s about the entire community at large and government overreach,” said Ali Hamdan, who attended the April 21 Common Council meeting. “To me, this is pure political oppression. He is a political prisoner in my eyes.”

Sarsour, 53, a Palestinian-born Jordanian national and longtime Franklin resident, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 30 after agents surrounded his vehicle as he left his home. He was later transferred to a detention facility in Clay County, Indiana, where he remains in custody while deportation proceedings continue in immigration court.

Supporters say the arrest is retaliation for Sarsour’s advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of Israel. Sarsour has operated furniture stores in Milwaukee and previously served on the board of American Muslims for Palestine. Supporters describe him as a business owner, family man and community advocate with no criminal record in the United States.

Federal officials dispute those claims. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Sarsour was arrested because of prior convictions in Israel as a teenager for throwing Molotov cocktails at homes of Israeli armed forces members and attempting to possess weapons. Officials also allege he failed to disclose portions of his criminal history on immigration forms and is suspected of funding terrorist organizations.

Sarsour’s attorneys deny the allegations, arguing the convictions stemmed from his youth in the occupied West Bank, involved coercion and had been known to U.S. authorities for decades. They have filed a habeas corpus petition seeking his release, arguing the detention violates his First Amendment rights and is politically motivated.

Milwaukee officials across multiple levels of government have publicly criticized the detention since Sarsour’s arrest.

On April 2, Alderpersons JoCasta Zamarripa and Alex Brower issued a joint statement calling the arrest “an illegal detention of a longtime permanent U.S. resident.”

“Salah Sarsour is a Milwaukeean who is lawfully present in our community and has resided in the U.S. for more than 30 years,” the statement said. “He must immediately be freed from custody and afforded the basic due process that he is entitled to under the Constitution.”

That same day, Common Council President José G. Pérez and Alderman Scott Spiker released a separate statement titled “Due Process is Not Optional.”

The statement said Sarsour’s detention “has raised concerns with any fair-minded observer about his treatment and the adequacy of the government’s case against him.”

The two officials described Sarsour as “a deeply respected member of our community” and called the circumstances surrounding his arrest and transfer to Indiana “profoundly troubling and, frankly, un-American.”

“If the government has a case, let it make it and make it publicly with all rights of due process provided,” the statement said.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson also joined calls for Sarsour’s release during an April 2 rally at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee attended by hundreds of supporters, including Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.

“He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong,” Johnson said in a statement, calling the arrest “another example of overreach and harm from the U.S. immigration authorities.”

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., visited Sarsour at the Clay County detention facility around April 24 for what she described as a wellness check.

Moore said Sarsour was “in good spirits” despite losing weight and remained primarily concerned about his mother, for whom he is the primary caregiver. She also said detention officials described him as cooperative.

Sarsour remains in federal custody in Indiana as attorneys continue challenging his detention in court.