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Federal immigration authorities have detained the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, alleging he concealed a past conviction involving attacks on Israeli targets and lied on his U.S. immigration application.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Salah Salem Sarsour, a leader of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, in a targeted operation earlier this week, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In a statement released Thursday, DHS said Sarsour is a Jordanian national who was previously convicted in Israel for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the homes of Israeli armed forces and attempting to possess weapons and ammunition.
The agency alleges he failed to disclose that history on immigration forms and improperly obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States.
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“Salah Salem Sarsour is a terrorist convicted for throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of Israeli armed forces. This illegal alien from Jordan lied on his green card application to gain legal status in the U.S.,” said DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor reported that, according to ICE, Sarsour eventually became a green card hold in 1998 under President Clinton after lying on his application.
In a statement to FOX 6 Milwaukee, ICE said it worked with the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest Sarsour.
The Islamic Society of Milwaukee has also created a fundraising page to support Sarsour.
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“Br. Salah is being targeted on the basis of his Palestinian and Muslim background, and his advocacy for Palestinian rights,” the fundraiser says, in part. “We know this fight for Br. Salah is part of a larger trend of attacks on immigrants that whittle away at democratic norms and legal protections for everyone. That is why this fight is a fight for all of us.”
Sarsour has been the board president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the largest Islamic organization in the state, for five years.
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At a crowded news conference, boisterous supporters chanted to free Sarsour.
“He was targeted because of one thing, because he dared stand up to the Israeli army,” Othman Atta, one of Sarsour’s attorneys, told the crowd. “And he was not a U.S. citizen.”
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A diverse group of religious leaders in attendance called Sarsour a valuable community member.
“This appears to be just the latest example of how this administration seeks to silence opposition and intimidate those who speak and act differently,” said the Rev. Paul D. Erickson, bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson called Sarsour’s detainment “an outrage.”
“He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong,” Johnson said Thursday in a post on X. “This is another example of overreach and harm from the U.S. immigration authorities.”
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Sarsour is being held at a county jail in Indiana. His attorneys have filed a petition seeking his release.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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