Here & Now

Sam Cole on ICE's Detention and Release of Salah Sarsour

Shawn Johnson:
After 80 days in federal custody, Salah Sarsour, a green card holder and president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, was released from a facility in Indiana. Sarsour was arrested in a targeted operation on March 30th when he was surrounded by ICE agents. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in a press release called Sarsour a criminal and a terrorist, alleging crimes committed in Israel more than 30 years ago prior to coming to the U.S. and of which he denies. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reported to have said that Sarsour poses an adverse consequence to foreign policy considerations. Sarsour is outspoken about the mistreatment of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel. In the order granting the motion for his release, a federal judge stated, Mr. Sarsour has raised a substantial First Amendment retaliation claim which could render his detention unlawful. Here to discuss the case is a member of Sarsours legal team. Sam Cole, an attorney with the ACLU of Illinois who is also a former immigration judge. Sam, thanks for joining us.

Sam Cole:
Thanks for having me.

Shawn Johnson:
Youre familiar with the arguments raised by the Trump administration against Salah Sarsour. The secretary of state himself said that he posed an adverse consequence to foreign policy considerations. Were there grounds to arrest and detain him?

Sam Cole:
No. Absolutely not. Mr. Sarsour has been a upstanding person in the United States since he came here over 30 years ago. He is a grandfather of nine U.S. citizen kids and has had absolutely no trouble in the United States. The only reason he was arrested was because hes an outspoken advocate for Palestinian human rights, and thats why hes been targeted by this administration. And that is absolutely not an appropriate and lawful reason to arrest someone.

Shawn Johnson:
So what were conditions like for Mr. Sarsour in jail?

Sam Cole:
They were pretty bad. He lost 30 pounds during the time that he was there. Hes also he also has some medical problems. Hes a type two diabetic, and his doctor required that he have daily glucose, blood glucose monitoring. And he was getting tested once a month. So thats not great. And that could really pose some serious risks to his health.

Shawn Johnson:
Was there a chance he could have been deported?

Sam Cole:
So the case is ongoing, right? So he has been released from detention based on our motion in front of a federal district court judge. So Mr. Sarsour filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, asking the federal judge to release him from the immigration detention. And the judge hasnt ruled on that habeas petition quite yet. But he did grant an interim release of Mr. Sarsour while the court adjudicates the habeas petition by saying that hes made a strong showing that he might prevail in the habeas petition. But that doesnt mean the immigration case is over. So Mr. Sarsour is still fighting deportation in immigration court, and thats ongoing.

Shawn Johnson:
Okay. Youre a former immigration judge yourself. Youve said this case is highly unusual. Youve never seen anything like it. How much of the case is outside the bounds of what youd normally see?

Sam Cole:
I was an immigration judge in the Chicago immigration court for nine years, and I handled, actually, a detained docket. Thats a docket of individuals who are in immigration custody. So very similar to the situation that Mr. Sarsour was in. And Mr. Sarsours case is, in fact, in the Chicago immigration court. And I can tell you, for one, I have never seen anything like this at all. The first of all, the primary charge against him is, as you noted, that letter from of Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that Mr. Sarsours really lawful activity in the United States poses a foreign policy risk to the United States. Now that is highly unusual and highly legally dubious. But the other thing that is extraordinary about this case is although the case is assigned to the Chicago immigration court, the judge that was assigned to hear the case is not a Chicago immigration court judge. Its actually a very senior level management judge in the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Its the an acting regional deputy chief immigration judge. Its essentially the second in command of all the judges in the entire immigration court system. So that case was plucked out of the immigration court judges and specifically assigned to this one management judge. Ive never seen that happen.

Shawn Johnson:
So I gather you feel like you have a strong First Amendment case here. That his rights, your clients rights, were violated. Can you explain that?

Sam Cole:
Absolutely. Mr. Sarsour, as a longtime permanent resident of the United States, has the same First Amendment rights to speak and to engage in political activity and political activism that essentially you and I do as citizens of the United States. And so whats really happening is the government is targeting him because they dont like his speech. And that is highly problematic. It is it violates the Constitution, the First Amendment. And were very concerned to see this these charges against him by the administration.

Shawn Johnson:
So you mentioned this, that this case is not over. You have hearings coming up. How does this proceed? What happens next?

Sam Cole:
So theres another hearing coming up at the end of July, July 22nd, in the immigration court, where the government has the burden of proof in this case. They have to prove the charges that they have made against him. And aside from the charges, based on the Marco Rubio determination about foreign policy, there are some other charges that relate to things that happened decades and decades ago, things the government has known about for a very long time. And, you know, we are we will fight these charges. We are he has very good defenses, and we are fighting them in immigration court. And if we lose in immigration court, we will continue our fight all the way up as far as it takes, because everyone knows whats going on here. Its not about anything that happened decades ago. Its about what hes doing now, his speech. And thats why hes being thats why hes being targeted.

Shawn Johnson:
All right. Well be watching the case. Sam Cole, thank you so much for joining us.

Sam Cole:
Thank you.