A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Salah Sarsour, president of Wisconsin's largest mosque, after finding that immigration authorities detained him in apparent retaliation for his public support of Palestinian rights, a move the court determined violated his First Amendment protections.
U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued the order Thursday, delivering a sharp rebuke to Trump administration officials who sought to characterize Sarsour as a national security threat. The decision came after Sarsour, a legal permanent resident who has lived in the United States for more than 30 years, was arrested by plainclothes ICE agents on March 30 in what the court found to be a politically motivated detention.
Sarsour, who describes himself as stateless Palestinian, has been a prominent voice for Palestinian causes and serves on the board of American Muslims for Palestine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally signed a memo last year describing Sarsour as deportable despite his green card status, claiming his actions "undermine US foreign policy to combat antisemitism around the world."
The memo referenced Sarsour's organization being "found to have been involved in activities providing funds to Hamas," though the judge found these historical convictions from the 1990s insufficient to justify detention, especially given that federal immigration officials had approved Sarsour's legal permanent residency and citizenship application decades earlier while already knowing about his background.
According to the court order, the Trump administration and Heritage Foundation, the conservative organization behind Project 2025, had developed a strategy to target prominent foreign-born Muslims and Palestinian rights advocates for deportation or pressure campaigns. Sarsour appears to have been a direct target of that effort, the judge determined.
During his detention at Clay County Jail in Indiana, Sarsour lost 30 pounds. Medical records showed he suffered from diabetes but received blood sugar checks only once monthly, far below the multiple daily checks typically required for proper diabetes management. His attorneys warned the court he faced constant risk of serious complications.
Judge Hanlon found that Sarsour's speech on Palestinian rights constitutes "core political speech" protected by the First Amendment and that "his protected speech was at least a motivating factor" in the government's decision to detain him. The government had argued that non-citizens lack the same First Amendment protections as U.S. citizens and proposed conditions including a $25,000 bond, house arrest, an ankle monitor, and regular ICE check-ins.
Instead, the judge ordered Sarsour's release on personal recognizance, meaning he need not pay bail to secure his release, though he must remain in Wisconsin. His legal team issued a statement celebrating the family's reunion while warning that the case demonstrated broader threats to free speech rights.
"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 lawyers said. "It is also a sober reminder that, if the government can target Mr Sarsour, everyone's free speech rights are at risk."
The Department of Homeland Security responded by calling Sarsour a "terrorist" and citing convictions from his youth in Israel, accusations that Sarsour has consistently denied.
Author James Rodriguez: "This ruling shows federal judges will push back hard when the executive branch weaponizes immigration enforcement against political speech, no matter how aligned the administration might be with the enforcement apparatus."
Comments