Salah Sarsour: ICE Detention, Community, and Standing for Justice | Sumud Podcast w/ Dr. Ed Hasan

In this episode of the Sumud Podcast, we sit down with Salah Sarsour for a powerful conversation about immigration, free speech, advocacy, and the personal consequences of speaking out. Salah shares his experience spending 81 days in ICE detention, his work as a Palestinian community leader and president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, and the events that led to his detention and ongoing legal case. Salah and his attorney, Patrick Taurel, discuss the legal process surrounding his case, conditions inside detention, the impact on Salah’s family and community, and broader questions surrounding advocacy and protected speech. The conversation also explores Salah’s decades of community work, his experiences with detention in the past, and why he continues to speak publicly about issues affecting his community.

Salah Sarsour is a longtime Palestinian community leader and green card holder who faces deportation for his advocacy against Israeli apartheid and genocide. He is a successful small business owner, community leader, father of six, and caretaker for his elderly mother. On March 30, 2026, Salah Sarsour was taken into custody by ICE because of his advocacy for Palestinian rights; he is one of many Palestinian Americans permanent residents who have been targeted by the Trump Administration for speaking out against the genocide of Palestinians, but his case represents an escalation in the administration’s attempts to shut down activists and organizations opposed to the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza.

Patrick Taurel is Salah Sarsour's lead immigration attorney and a Partner at Grossman Young & Hammond. Ranked a top lawyer in the field of immigration law by Washingtonian magazine, he has over a decade of experience as an advocate for immigrants. He has worked for leading immigration firms and impactful non-profit immigrant rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Immigration Council.

In this conversation, we explore
→ Salah Sarsour’s 81 days in ICE detention and his ongoing legal case
→ His leadership in the Milwaukee Muslim community and work with young people
→ His advocacy and organizing around Palestinian issues
→ The circumstances surrounding his arrest and the immigration process
→ Conditions inside detention and Salah’s experiences supporting other detainees
→ Free speech, advocacy, and the broader debate surrounding pro-Palestinian activism
→ Salah’s commitment to his community, his family, and continuing to speak out

Director: Dr. Ed Hasan | 2026