A US federal judge has ordered the release of Islamic leader Salah Sarsour. He claims that his detention by immigration authorities was a form of retaliation for his overt support for Palestine.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon ruled that Sarsour had raised a “substantive” claim of speech protected by the First Amendment. That could potentially “make his detention unlawful.”
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Mr. Hanlon also rejected President Donald Trump-era claims that pro-Palestinian speech undermined U.S. foreign policy interests.
“Simply raising foreign relations concerns does not automatically override First Amendment rights,” Hanlon, who was nominated by President Trump in 2018, wrote in his decision.
The Trump administration has made broad claims of national security by arresting and detaining pro-Palestinian foreign nationals in the United States, drawing criticism from rights activists.
Civil liberties groups describe the efforts as an attempt to punish voices critical of Israeli and U.S. foreign policy.
Sarsour, a legal permanent resident of the United States, was released hours after Hanlon’s decision. In a prepared statement, he celebrated the ruling as a victory for free speech.
“I’m so relieved to be with my family,” said Sarsour, who has lived in the United States for nearly 32 years. “I haven’t been able to step outside and get some fresh air for 80 days.”
“This experience reminds us all that we must fight together for the right to be a voice for the silenced. I will never stop speaking for Palestine and humanity, wherever I am.”
Lawyers for Sarsour, who has type 2 diabetes, said he lost more than 30 pounds during his nearly three months in custody. He is president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the largest mosque in midwestern Wisconsin.
On March 31, his vehicle was reportedly stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and he was transported to a detention center in Indiana pending deportation.
Sarsour has no criminal record in the United States, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has called him a “criminal and terrorist.”
He was accused of lying on his green card application and failing to disclose that he had been convicted by an Israeli military tribunal for throwing stones and petrol bombs at Israeli forces.
The 53-year-old Palestinian American grew up in the occupied West Bank. He denies the charges.
Human rights groups say such allegations are frequently brought against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and that Israel’s military court system convicts them nearly 100 percent of the time. Such cases may rely on confessions extracted through torture.
In Thursday’s ruling, Judge Hanlon also questioned why the Trump administration suddenly deemed Sarsour a threat after more than 30 years in the United States.
He ordered that Sarsour be returned from Indiana to Wisconsin to remain in his home while the case progresses.
Since taking office for his second term, President Trump has called for the mass deportation of immigrants from the United States. He also led a crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices and denounced anti-Semitism.
In deportation hearings for these activists, Trump administration officials rely on a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows the secretary of state to “remove” aliens who are believed to have “the potential to have a material adverse foreign policy impact on the United States.”
But rights advocates say the law does not override First Amendment free speech protections. Critics also question whether activists’ free speech rights are actually impeding President Trump’s foreign policy.
Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University, was among those targeted under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
He was arrested and detained by immigration authorities in March 2025, but a judge ordered his release in June of the same year. However, his case continues and he is under threat of deportation.
In a social media post Thursday, Khalil welcomed Sarsour’s release and expressed solidarity with Milwaukee leaders.
“Sarah Sarsour is coming home. After more than 80 days isolated from his family, a federal judge ordered his release and affirmed a fact that should never have been at issue: Representing the rights of the Palestinian people is protected by the First Amendment,” Khalil said.
“Welcome home, Salah. This is what we continue to fight for.”
