The president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents this week and was now being held in Indiana, according to his lawyers.
The president, Salah Sarsour, 53, has led the group, which is the largest Islamic organization in Wisconsin, for five years. In a statement on Thursday, the group said that he was a legal permanent resident who has lived in the United States for more than three decades.
Mr. Sarsour, who as a teenager was detained by Israeli authorities on the West Bank, was a frequent supporter of Palestinian rights and a board member of American Muslims for Palestine. That organization said in a statement on Wednesday that he was “a pillar of the community and a law-abiding Milwaukee business owner.”
This week, Mr. Sarsour was taken to a detention facility in the Chicago area before being transferred to a lockup in Indiana, according to American Muslims for Palestine.
Othman Atta, the executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, said he spoke by phone with Mr. Sarsour on Thursday afternoon. He said that Mr. Sarsour had been collecting mail at an office on the south side of Milwaukee on Monday morning when he was approached outside by an armed man in plainclothes. Then, about a dozen vehicles pulled up with more men, also in plainclothes, who identified themselves as ICE agents before they took him away, Mr. Atta said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Mr. Atta said that the reason federal officials cited for Mr. Sarsour’s detention was the arrest decades ago, before he came to the United States, where he has no criminal record.
Mr. Sarsour was born in the occupied West Bank, according to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, and came to the United States in 1993.
“The primary allegations are relating back to when he was a teenager in the West Bank,” Mr. Atta said. “He had been arrested, and this is something that he talked about quite a bit: how he was abused and tortured while in custody.”
The nature of Mr. Sarsour’s case on the West Bank was not fully clear.
Mr. Atta said that the charges may have involved throwing rocks or holding weapons and that Mr. Sarsour spent about two years in detention. Mr. Sarsour, then a teenager, did not fully understand the charges that Israel presented to him in Hebrew, Mr. Atta said.
The Israeli embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment about the arrest.
The Muslim Legal Fund of America, which is representing Mr. Sarsour, has filed a writ of habeas corpus on his behalf.
“Salah immigrated to the United States nearly 33 years ago. The U.S. government fully vetted his visa application at that time,” Kathryn Brady, the head of the legal fund’s Immigration Litigation Department, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“It is difficult to believe that D.H.S.’s position now is not rooted in a violation of his First Amendment right to speak about the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” she added.
Chris Larson, a Democratic state senator representing parts of Milwaukee County, said he was “horrified” by Mr. Sarsour’s detention this week. “In addition to being a community leader, Salah is a grandfather and lawful Milwaukee-area neighbor,” he added.
Mitch Smith contributed reporting.
Jacey Fortin covers a wide range of subjects for The Times, including extreme weather, court cases and state politics across the country.
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