The Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM) said on Thursday that its president, Salah Sarsour, has been taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to the mosque, Sarsour is a 53-year-old Palestinian American who has lived in the United States for more than three decades and is a legal permanent resident.
ISM said Sarsour was detained on Monday after what the mosque described as a traffic stop. A post on the mosque's website reported that "He was pulled over while driving by over 10 ICE agents with no cause," and that he was initially transported out of Wisconsin to a detention facility in Chicago before being moved to a detention center in Indiana.
Requests for comment to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security - the parent agency of ICE - went unanswered, the mosque said.
Deportation paperwork and past arrest
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported comments from Othman Atta, the executive director of ISM, stating that the deportation documents rely on an arrest by Israeli authorities when Sarsour was a teenager living in the West Bank to make claims that he provided material support for extremist groups. Atta told the newspaper that Sarsour was convicted as a teenager in an Israeli military court, the Journal Sentinel reported.
The mosque cited human rights concerns about military court proceedings in the West Bank, noting that while Israel has ratified the U.N. convention against torture, rights group B'Tselem has reported that military courts in the West Bank have a 96 percent conviction rate and a documented history of extracting confessions through torture.
Denials and allegations of targeting
Atta has denied that Sarsour supported the militant group Hamas. In a statement posted by the mosque, ISM said Sarsour "is being targeted on the basis of his Palestinian and Muslim background, and his advocacy for Palestinian rights."
Broader enforcement context
The mosque's announcement places Sarsour's detention within a broader pattern of immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump's administration that rights groups have criticized as violating due process and free speech. Advocacy organizations contend that the administration's approach has contributed to an unsafe environment for minorities.
ISM and other advocacy groups say the administration has intensified scrutiny of pro-Palestinian voices, including efforts to deport foreign protesters, threats to freeze funding for universities where demonstrations took place, and directives to screen immigrants' online comments. The administration has characterized some protesters as antisemitic and supportive of extremist causes.
Those targeted for deportation in protests have in many cases been released by court orders while their cases are adjudicated, and judges have blocked some attempts to freeze university funds, the mosque noted. Demonstrators, including certain Jewish groups, argue that criticism of Israel's assault on Gaza is being conflated with antisemitism and labelled as support for extremism, a claim the administration disputes.
What is known and what remains unclear
At this stage, ISM has provided details on the timing and circumstances of Sarsour's detention and the contents of the deportation paperwork as described by mosque leadership and reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. ICE and DHS have not provided public comment in response to requests, and the legal process related to the deportation documents has not been adjudicated in publicly available court records cited by the mosque.