Rabbis call for Salah Sarsour’s release from ICE jail

release Salah – A group of rabbis is demanding the release of Salah Sarsour, a Wisconsin permanent resident and Milwaukee Islamic Society president held since March 30 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Indiana’s Clay County Jail, citing repeated violations of his

When a practicing Muslim held in an Indiana jail asked for the items he needed to pray, the response—his lawyers say—was denial, mockery, and substitutions.

On March 30. Salah Sarsour. a legal permanent resident of Wisconsin and a grandfather of nine American grandchildren. was abducted by a dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He has been held in Indiana’s Clay County Jail ever since. Sarsour is also the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and has been an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights.

Now, rabbis across the Chicago area are urging the government to reverse that detention, framing their demand as a test of American values closer to home than the headlines about antisemitism that have roiled the country’s politics.

A little over a year ago. more than 100 Chicago area Jewish clergy published an open letter expressing alarm at the Trump administration’s weaponization of antisemitism to justify escalating attacks on American democracy—specifically including the detention of immigrants and the revocation of their legal status without due process. A year later. some of those rabbis say they cannot ignore a rights violation they see as unconstitutional and unjust: the detention of Sarsour.

In their letter. the rabbis say Sarsour’s case should alarm anyone who believes in democracy. even if they disagree with his political views. They point to a pattern they describe as free speech meeting arrests and deportations. and they say the country should not forget that many American families arrived seeking refuge from violence.

They also allege that while in ICE detention, Sarsour’s basic rights have been continually violated.

His attorneys report that he has lost 30 pounds and developed severe abdominal pain because the facility refuses to monitor his blood glucose level to safely manage his diabetes. The rabbis connect that account to what they say is a wider system of harm. adding that at least 51 people have died in ICE detention centers since 2025 due to inhumane conditions and medical neglect.

When Sarsour asked for an adequate diet to stabilize his blood sugar levels at the Indiana jail, his lawyers say he was told he could purchase barbecue pork rinds from the commissary—a food he cannot eat as a practicing Muslim.

They further say jail guards refused to provide him with a prayer rug and Quran when he requested the items, and instead gave him a Hindu prayer book. Sarsour, the letter says, was only given a Quran after his lawyers intervened.

The rabbis also describe the jail’s religious accommodations as inadequate and punitive. They say the facility offers no prayer services for Muslims, encouraging him to join Christian prayer services instead. They add that when Sarsour prays, guards have interrupted him and mocked his faith—violations the signers say sicken them.

The letter’s signatories argue that Jews must not allow fear to be used as cover for actions they see as fundamentally wrong. “We will not allow Salah or anyone else to be illegally detained in our name,” the rabbis write.

They call on the government to free Salah Sarsour and return him to his community in Milwaukee.

The letter is signed by Rabbi Daniel Kirzane of Hyde Park, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg of Evanston, Rabbi David Eber of Naperville, and Rabbi Ike Serotta of Highland Park.

Salah Sarsour ICE detention Clay County Jail Indiana Milwaukee Islamic Society Palestinian rights diabetes medical neglect religious rights rabbis demand release