On the morning of March 30, 2026, Salah Sarsour was collecting mail at an office on the south side of Milwaukee when a man in plain clothes approached him. Then, according to Othman Atta, executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, about a dozen vehicles pulled up. The men inside, also in plain clothes, identified themselves as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents before they took Sarsour away. He has been in federal custody since.
Sarsour, 53, is a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident who has lived in the United States for more than three decades. He has led the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the largest Islamic organization in Wisconsin, for five years as its board president. His wife and all four of his adult children are U.S. citizens. He holds a green card. He has no criminal record in the United States.
Federal authorities have charged him, in immigration terms, with being a foreign policy threat and with lying on his green card application in the 1990s. The Department of Homeland Security accused him of being "suspected of funding terror organizations" and cited a conviction by Israeli military courts from more than three decades ago.
What the Government Says
Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed Sarsour's arrest and provided a statement saying he had been "convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces" and had illegally attempted to possess weapons and ammunition. DHS also said he lied on his green card application about that prior conviction.
The conviction cited by DHS comes from Israeli military courts operating in the West Bank, where Sarsour was born. Israeli military courts handle cases involving Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories. Human rights organizations have repeatedly documented those courts' high conviction rates and procedural limitations, though Israel disputes those characterizations.
DHS's accusation about funding terrorism was not accompanied by criminal charges as of the reporting on this story. No U.S. criminal indictment has been publicly filed.
What Sarsour's Attorneys Say
Attorney Munjed Ahmad, who is representing Sarsour, said the conviction cited by DHS took place when Sarsour was a minor living under Israeli military occupation. Ahmad said the offenses, as described by the defense, included throwing rocks at Israeli officers, not Molotov cocktails as DHS characterized them. Sarsour has held a green card for years, and his attorneys say the U.S. government has known about the Israeli conviction since he entered the country in 1993.
"Our government should not be doing the bidding of a foreign government," Ahmad said in a statement reported by multiple outlets. "There's no question in my mind that this is to stifle the discourse on the Palestinian narrative."
Atta, who is also one of Sarsour's attorneys, said deportation documents obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel focused on Sarsour's teenage detention in the West Bank to argue he provided material support for extremists. Atta denied that Sarsour supported Hamas.
Sarsour's legal team has filed a petition seeking his release. He is currently being held at a county jail outside Indianapolis, Indiana, having first been taken to a detention facility in the Chicago area.
The Khalil Comparison
Attorneys for Sarsour drew explicit comparisons to the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student who faces deportation after the federal government declared him a foreign policy threat due to what officials described as support for Hamas. Khalil became a high-profile case in early 2026, drawing national attention to the administration's use of foreign policy justifications for deporting legal residents who have been critical of Israel.
In a joint statement, several civil rights and Muslim advocacy organizations wrote: "His detention reflects a troubling trend we have seen with Mahmoud Khalil, Leqaa Kordia, Mohsen Mahdawi and other voices critical of Israeli oppression. This administration is weaponizing the U.S. justice system to advance the interests of a foreign state, Israel." The organizations also launched an online campaign for Sarsour's legal defense.
The administration has not publicly responded to claims that the arrests are motivated by political speech rather than legitimate immigration or national security concerns.
Community and Political Reaction
Sarsour's arrest generated immediate and broad pushback from elected officials and religious leaders in Milwaukee and beyond. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson called the detention "an outrage" in a post on X on April 2.
"He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong," Johnson wrote. "This is another example of overreach and harm from the U.S. immigration authorities."
A news conference on April 2 drew a boisterous crowd of supporters, along with religious leaders from multiple faith traditions. The Reverend Paul D. Erickson, bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said at the event: "This appears to be just the latest example of how this administration seeks to silence opposition and intimidate those who speak and act differently."
Atta, speaking to the crowd gathered outside, framed the arrest in terms of Sarsour's Palestinian identity: "He was targeted because of one thing, because he dared stand up to the Israeli army. And he was not a U.S. citizen."
The Legal Territory
The legal mechanism being used in the Sarsour case is the same one invoked in the Khalil case: a provision of immigration law that allows the Secretary of State to declare a non-citizen deportable if their presence is deemed contrary to U.S. foreign policy interests. Critics of that authority argue it amounts to a content-based restriction on political speech, since it can be applied to legal residents without criminal charges or conviction in the United States.
That argument is being tested in federal courts in the Khalil case. How those courts rule will directly affect the legal landscape for Sarsour and others in similar situations. As of April 4, no court ruling had been issued in either case that resolved the core constitutional question.
The green card application fraud claim presents a separate legal avenue for the government. Even if the foreign policy designation is challenged, authorities could pursue removal proceedings on the basis of the alleged misrepresentation from the 1990s. Sarsour's attorneys say the U.S. government was aware of the Israeli conviction from the time of his original entry and that no misrepresentation occurred.
The Broader Pattern
The Sarsour arrest is the latest in a series of high-profile immigration detentions targeting individuals who have publicly criticized Israel or American policy toward Israel. The pattern has drawn scrutiny from civil liberties organizations, academic freedom advocates, and lawmakers in both parties, though Republican critics of the practice have been relatively few.
The administration's position is that it is enforcing existing immigration law and protecting national security. Critics argue the timing, targeting, and stated justifications in cases like Sarsour's and Khalil's point to political motivation rather than law enforcement necessity.
What both sides agree on: Sarsour has no criminal record in the United States, has lived here for more than 30 years, and has a family that is composed entirely of American citizens. Whether that context is legally relevant to his detention is now a matter for the courts.
Sarsour remains in detention outside Indianapolis as of April 4. His attorneys say he is ready to fight his case. The constitutional questions his detention raises are not close to being settled.