Federal court orders release of pro-Palestinian US permanent resident from ICE custody – JURIST

The Terre Haute Division of the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Thursday ordered the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to “immediately release” pro-Palestinian advocate Salah Sarsour, a lawful permanent resident of the US, from ICE detention facilities.

In so ordering, Federal Judge James Hanlon confirmed that Sarsour has successfully established a “substantial claim of First Amendment retaliation” for his speech in support of Palestinian rights and critical of the Israeli government. The court reasoned that the government likely detained him for his activism, rendering his detention unlawful. Importantly, the court did not make any determination regarding the outcome of Sarsour’s First Amendment claim or the merits of his removability,

Palestine-born Sarsour is the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest mosque, and is also a board member of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and Palestinian rights advocacy nonprofit group. Sarsour has been a legal resident of US for 33 years and became a lawful permanent resident in 1998.

Sarsour has no criminal record for the entire time he has lived in the US, although he had been convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails and stones at Israeli army forces prior to his arrival in the US. According to the court, US immigration authorities were fully aware of those charges outside the US and considered them previously and still granted him permanent residence. According to the court, there is disputing evidence presented by both parties as to why Sarsour never became a naturalised citizen.

In March, Sarsour was pulled over by armed plainclothes ICE agents who approached him in 10 unmarked vehicles. He was promptly arrested pursuant to a I-200 administrative warrant and transferred to a detention centre in Indiana. During the 80 days of his detention, he reportedly lost a lot of weight and nearly died due to his unmonitored diabetes. Sarsour has alleged that staff at the detention facility only checked his blood sugar once a month.

The government argued that Sarsour did not have have the same First Amendment rights as US citizens, and that even if he did, foreign policy and national security considerations allow restriction of such rights in this instance. Marco Rubio had also personally issued a memo previously to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last year stating Sarsour was deportable despite his green card, because “his actions undermine US foreign policy to combat antisemitism around the world.”

The court rejected these arguments, reminding the government that anyone who enters the US lawfully has the same rights guaranteed by the Constitution as US citizens. Hanlon also denied the rhetoric pushed under the Trump administration that pro-Palestinian speech undermines US foreign policy interests and noted that “the mere invocation of foreign relations concerns does not automatically trump First Amendment rights.” Judge Hanlon likewise rejected the determination made by the Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Sarsour is a national security threat due to his antisemitic speech.

This is not the first time ICE detained individuals for pro-Palestinian advocacy, utilizing much of the same arguments. The Trump administration often relies on § 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the government to block entry or remove foreign nationals that are deemed to have potentially “serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the US. The courts have previously commented that this provision is rarely used, leading most detainees to argue that the real reason behind the arrest is retaliation.

In March 2025, US immigration agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and Palestine student leader, at his campus residence on much the same reasoning given for Sarsour’s detention. Khalil was also already a lawful permanent resident at the time. In January, a federal appellate court reversed a lower court decision releasing Khalil. As of today, he remains in detention. In May 2025, Mohsen Mahdawi and Badar Khan Suri were detained in early 2025 and each released by their respective courts for unlawful detention.

Rights advocates have been increasingly concerned over the actions of US immigration officials since the beginning of Trump’s second term and have urged the Trump administration to protect the fundamental rights of individuals residing in the US. Amnesty International published a report in January warning of rising authoritarianism in the US and detailing numerous ways in which the rule of law and basic rights are being threatened.