Twin Cities community demands release of Salah Sarsour from ICE custody

Minneapolis, MN – On the evening of Saturday, April 25, 50 members of the Twin Cities community rallied downtown Minneapolis to demand the release of Salah Sarsour from ICE custody. Sarsour serves as president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and is a board member for American Muslims for Palestine. He has been an organizer for the Palestine movement in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for decades. Saturday’s protest was organized by the Twin Cities chapter of American Muslims for Palestine and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee.

On March 30, Sarsour outside his home near Milwaukee when he was pulled over, surrounded by ten ICE agents, and taken into custody without cause by ICE and DHS. He was initially held at a facility in Chicago, before being transferred to a detention center in Indiana where he remains in custody. Sarsour is a father, grandfather and husband, and has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for 32 years.

At the rally, organizers led the crowd in chants of “Protesting is not a crime, free free Palestine” and “When immigrants are under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” The crowd handed out fliers to passersby and to cars stopped at the busy downtown intersection of Washington and Hennepin Avenues to inform people about Sarsour’s abduction and the fight to free him from ICE.

Rani Hamza from American Muslims for Palestine articulated that Sarsour’s abduction is not some attempt at immigration enforcement but in fact an act of political repression against the Palestine movement by the Trump administration. Hamza said, “As they try to strip us of our dignity, we will fight harder to protect it. As they try to strip us of our humanity we will fight harder to preserve it. As they try to silence our voices, we will make them louder. And no matter how long it takes, and no matter what obstacles stand in our way, we will continue to fight for our dignity, our humanity, and our right to speak.”

Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Wyatt Miller laid out successful tactics of past battles against repression stating, “We do it by putting up a fight in court and by mobilizing the masses, by taking to the streets, by raising the banner of ‘Free them all’ without any qualifications and without fear.”

Insisting this is an opportunity to favorably shift the political terrain of the movement, Miller continued, “Fighting back against repression changes the political conditions and can help make what was impossible become possible.”

Alissa Washington of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice spoke at the protest. Washington’s fiancé Cornelius Jackson has been wrongfully incarcerated and over-sentenced in Minnesota for the past 19 years. Connecting Jackson’s case to Sarsour’s she said, “His case is not unique. It is a reflection of a system that relies on informants, hides evidence, and then expects us to just accept it. At the same time, we are seeing that same system expand beyond prisons into our streets, into our neighborhoods, into our immigrant communities. Because today, we are also demanding: free Salah Sarsour from ICE detention.”

Representing the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Alvin Sheng said, “All immigrants and their families have to band together to ensure that our constitutional rights are preserved for everyone in this country.” He called on supporters of the immigrant rights struggle in the Twin Cities to show up this Friday for MIRAC’s 20th annual International Workers Day march. “The biggest opportunity for us to exercise our collective power and unity with immigrant communities is coming up next Friday May 1. The International Workers Day march is starting at Lake Street and Chicago Avenue at 4:30 p.m. Come out to the most important march of the year for immigrant and labor rights!”

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