AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

We end today’s show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to look at the case of Salah Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. He’s been locked up in an ICE jail in Indiana since late March. He is a Palestinian-born 53-year-old man who’s lived in the United States since 1993. He became a lawful permanent resident nearly 30 years ago.

The U.S. accuses him of failing to disclose a conviction by Israeli military authorities when he was a teenager in the occupied West Bank. Sarsour says he never understood the charges presented against him in Hebrew and that he was tortured in Israeli custody as a youth.

Calls have been growing for weeks for Sarsour to be released. In April, the Milwaukee Common Council passed a resolution opposing his detention. More than 9,000 people have signed a petition calling for his release. The petition was organized by the group Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. The group Jewish Voice for Peace has also advocated for Sarsour’s release.

This weekend, I was in Milwaukee, where I spoke to Jodi Melamed of Jewish Voice for Peace.

JODI MELAMED: His health is not good. We are very concerned. He’s being held completely underground in a very, very cold detention center. He has diabetes. It’s been a challenge to get his diabetes medication to him. We’re not confirmed he’s able to take it regularly. We’re really concerned. He was unable to — he asked for a Qur’an for his spiritual health, and he was denied one. In fact, he was told that he should read the Bible. The food he’s getting is also substandard. You know, we’re extremely concerned that the time he’s spending there is really compromising his health, although his mental spirit is very good.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now by two guests: Salah Sarsour’s son Kareem and Munjed Ahmad, a member of Salah Sarsour’s legal team.

Kareem, talk about your father, a very significant leader in Wisconsin, again, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, and what you’re calling for. He’s being held not in Wisconsin, but in — hours away in Indiana?

KAREEM SARSOUR: Yes, yes. Thank you, Amy. Thank you for having me. Good morning.

So, my father, he is a father, a grandfather, a businessman, a community pillar. He’s been living here, like you said, for over 30 years legally. He’s a community pillar, giving back to his community since he came here.

He was taken from Milwaukee on March 30th by ICE agents — or, we’d say, “kidnappers.” And they took him, and they took him to Chicago, where they booked him, and then they transferred him to Indiana’s facility in Clay County.

And the entire thing shook us as a family when they took him, because a man who is elected for the second time as the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, who has businesses, living here legally, no criminal records, never arrested in the United States, was taken off the streets and put in a van and dragged across state lines without any — without any cause or without any — without any information other than “You’ll get a call later on.”

On that day, we actually called many local police departments to understand what was going on. Nobody had any clue. We thought something bad has happened to my dad. We tried — we were searching the entire city for him. And we called our family friend, his attorney, to understand what was going on. Later on, we understood that he was being dragged across state lines to go to a detention center all the way in Indiana.

AMY GOODMAN: If you could tell us, Munjed Ahmad, what are the charges?

MUNJED AHMAD: Good morning again. Thanks for having myself and Kareem with you.

This is a very important case. There are many — you know, the so-called charges or allegations are all pretextual. The truth of the matter is Salah Sarsour is being held by ICE in an effort to weaponize immigration against people who are pro-Palestinian, people who advocated against the genocide in Gaza, people who are outspoken on the issue of human rights for Palestinians, the ending of the occupation against the Palestinians. So, whatever the government is saying, it’s all just a pretext for silencing folks for their pro-Palestinian advocacy. We saw the same thing with Mahmoud Khalil. We saw the same thing with Mohsen Mahdawi, with Leqaa Kordia. We saw the same thing with Rümeysa Öztürk. This is a — you know, the modus operandi has been shown to us by the government, that if you speak for Palestine and you are a advocate for Palestinian rights and you don’t fall in line, they’re going to use immigration and weaponize that against you.

Salah Sarsour has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for 33 years, has been a pillar of our community, not only in Milwaukee, but nationally. I mean, his reach is more national than most people, I think, know. And so, we know that the only reason that Salah Sarsour is sitting in jail right now is to stop him from his constitutionally protected rights of free speech. And this is an attack on our Constitution. And we should all be worried as Americans. We should all be very worried that our Constitution is being gutted by this administration, at least when it relates to pro-Palestinian speech. And so, Salah’s case, in my opinion, is going to be a litmus test. Will this country stand up for their constitutional rights, or are we going to allow the Trump administration to gut those rights and to strip people from their free speech?

AMY GOODMAN: Kareem, his ninth grandchild, your dad’s ninth grandchild, was born while he was in jail, and his 10th grandchild is about to be born?

KAREEM SARSOUR: Yes, yes. So, my dad’s — actually, he was planning on visiting my sister in Tennessee. He usually visits her every time she has a kid, for support. And she usually has very hard labor. So, he was actually planning to leave that week or the week after to go there and be of support. And he was not able to, obviously, for being taken away.

And his 10th grandchild is going to be coming in five months. He has, I mean, nine grandchildren. Six or seven of them talk about him every single day. They miss him so much. He was a big part of their lives. He was — if you see his pictures online and on social media, you see how they’re smiling, playing together. He was the teddy bear of a grandfather that brings so much happiness and joy. He would break the — I mean, he’d break our word as a grandfather and do whatever he wants with the kids and play with them and give them candy or take them out and get them toys.

AMY GOODMAN: He’s head of the largest mosque in — is it not only Milwaukee, but Wisconsin?

KAREEM SARSOUR: Yes, Wisconsin. So, he was elected for his second term as the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, that has a big community center, a big school. He was building, with an amazing team — they were building a great future for the next generations to come, as the community is growing more and more.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to end with Salah Sarsour in his own words, a part of a letter he sent from his ICE jail cell in Indiana. He wrote, “I am not here for a crime or for anything wrong I committed. I am here because I believe, like all of you, in building a strong community to secure the best environment for our children so they can learn how to be strong, just citizens. I am here because I chose to stand with justice and with those who deserve our support and to defend them, whether in our community or all over the world. I am here because I stood with all of you in the streets, saying no to the oppression, no to the genocide against Gaza and Palestine, no to war, no to the killing of children, no weaponizing immigration for anyone, and no to humiliating and discriminating against people.” The words of Salah Sarsour. We have 10 seconds. Munjed, you’re his lawyer. Is he — is there any word that he’s going to be released soon?

MUNJED AHMAD: We filed a request in the Southern District of Indiana with the federal court there, requesting a bond. That is currently pending. Our hope is that the judge will see what is actually happening here as an affront to the Constitution and will actually release him — 

AMY GOODMAN: Munjed Ahmad, a member of —

MUNJED AHMAD: — if that is the result.

AMY GOODMAN: — Salah Sarsour’s legal team, and Salah Sarsour’s son, Kareem Sarsour, thank you so much for being with us.

That does it for our show. I’ll be at the IFC Center tonight in New York City for the screening of Steal This Story Please!, then to Atlanta on Friday, Houston and Austin over the weekend. Go to democracynow.org.