Dear Editor,

Salah Sarsour grew up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in Palestine and has been a U.S. citizen for the past 32 years as a community member and activist in Milwaukee. On March 30, his car was swarmed by ICE agents in his driveway, and he was arrested. Sarsour is an American citizen with no convictions in the country, but despite this, he is being held in a detention center in Indianapolis.

There are many claims circulating around Sarsour’s detainment, with many contradicting each other. An article released by the DHS on April 2 states that Sarsour is “suspected of funding terror organizations and lying on immigration forms,” but the next statement by Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis undermines the presumption of innocence, outright calling him a terrorist. This hostile language is blatant in its encouragement of extreme negative reactions against Sarsour. While deeply concerning, this is now a common propaganda tactic used by the Trump administration; unproven claims are stated as fact by officials to the press.

It is important to contextualize Sarsour’s foreign terrorist charges. He grew up in the West Bank under Israel’s military occupation. As a 15-year-old, he was charged by Israel’s military court for terrorist activities, specifically that he threw Molotov cocktails at armed forces homes, for which he served two years in prison. It is important to note that, at this point in time, Israel was well-known for using torture to extract false confessions. The likely coerced confession and his age at the time make the charge seem more like an excuse than a valid reason to detain Sarsour. 

It is both bizarre and concerning that the U.S. is arresting a citizen who has been a citizen for decades due to a potentially false charge from his teen years that was reported over 32 years ago in his green card application.

There are a couple of theories as to why Sarsour was targeted by ICE. The first is his position as a pro-Palestine, Muslim community leader. He is volunteering in the elected position of President of the ISM and is a board member of American Muslims for Palestine. He also supported the grassroots organization “Building Unity,” an organization promoting nonviolent action. There are some speculations that he was seen as a threat due to these identities.

Other sources claim that Sarsour was donating to non-profits “accused of assisting Hamas.” Again, this uncertain language is scooped by other reporters and twisted into assertions that he was certainly funding the foreign terrorist organization, again bypassing the presumption of innocence.

Regardless of the reason, it is concerning to watch the Trump Administration continue to mesh Israel’s political views and objectives with the United States. Salah Sarsour has been a legal citizen for over 32 years, is loved by his community, has no convictions in the U.S., and has already served his time for his conviction outside the states. DHS’s detainment of a U.S. citizen and discussion of deportation without cause or a trial is setting a precedent that everyone who cares about this country should be horrified by.