On March 30, on a morning like any other in my hometown of Milwaukee, a man in plain clothes emerged from a car speeding toward me, a handgun visible at his side, and asked, "Are you Salah Sarsour?" 

Within minutes, nearly a dozen cars and some 20 agents – masked, plainclothes, one flashing a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge – converged on me and informed me that I was under arrest. 

I was sure it was a case of mistaken identity.  

After all, I have been a legal permanent resident for over 30 years with a clean record here, a business owner deeply connected to my community, and a devoted father of six children and nine grandchildren, all of whom are U.S. citizens.

I was wrong.

In a brazen assault on the First Amendment and an affront to the Constitution, I believe I was targeted, arrested and detained by the Trump administration for speaking out against the ongoing atrocities Israel is committing, just as I and so many others believe that Mahmoud Khalil, Sami Hamdi, Yaacub Ira, Leqaa Kordia

ICE detentions like mine are an attack on the First Amendment

As a national leader supporting some of the largest and longest-standing grassroots organizations for Palestinian rights, my arrest marked a serious escalation in the Trump administration's repression agenda. This is not just an attack against me and others working for Palestinian freedom; it is an attempt to dismantle the very values we profess as a nation. 

Although a judge on June 18 ordered my release, affirming that my speech in support of Palestinian rights is constitutionally protected, my legal battle is far from over. I still face the threat of deportation.

My case is part of a broader retaliatory pattern targeting those who have worked to expose Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. The aim is simple and should give us all pause: to have a chilling effect on constitutionally protected free speech that the government dislikes. 

The conditions in the ICE jail in Indiana, where I spent 80 long days, were degrading and dehumanizing.

I was denied appropriate testing and proper nutrition needed for my Type 2 diabetes, losing at least 30 pounds while in custody.

Basic religious accommodations, like halal food and mandatory Friday congregational prayers, were not reasonably provided, and I faced disruptions to and ridicule of my obligatory dawn prayers.

The Department of Homeland Security has claimed that all people in ICE custody get three meals a day and "proper medical treatment."

Aspects of my confinement were hauntingly reminiscent of my experience growing up under a brutal Israeli military occupation in the West Bank, where we became accustomed to violent, humiliating treatment at the hands of Israeli soldiers. 

As a child of 15, I was imprisoned for two years on charges that included throwing stones and was subjected to intimidation, coercive interrogation tactics and threats of rape.

When I was 22, after returning from the United States to visit family in the West Bank, I was arrested again and severely tortured, psychologically abused and brought before an Israeli military tribunal.  

Eventually, like many Palestinians before me, I signed a statement in Hebrew, a language I do not understand, hoping only that the abuse would end and that I would be allowed to return to my family.

Federal immigration officials have known about and reviewed these spurious charges against me, charges I have always categorically denied, on multiple occasions. After all, Israeli military courts ‒ which have been roundly condemned by human rights groups, including Israeli ones, as unjust ‒ convict Palestinians at a rate of almost 100%, often relying on confessions extracted through torture.

Our civil liberties are being threatened. We must protect the Constitution.

Why is the Trump administration undermining our constitutional rights to silence criticism of a foreign country and opinions it doesn't agree with? The erosion of our civil liberties is the real threat facing America today.  

Even the federal judge presiding over my case questioned the government's timing in dredging up these false, decades-old Israeli military court convictions, now being weaponized because of my lawful speech. It is a move that is as transparent as it is politically calculated.

Data shows that 97% of the more than 400,000 immigrants this administration has detained have no violent criminal history, many with American spouses or children. These were some of the same individuals I spent time with when I was held in Indiana.

My faith, my family and my community's relentless advocacy are what sustained me while I was incarcerated. Hundreds of community members from across the political and religious spectrum, including many of my longtime partners in interfaith work, submitted sworn declarations to the court on my behalf, and thousands more signed petitions and letters to Congress.

They, along with the good people of conscience across the nation, are what continue to give me hope as I continue fighting for my freedom.

For over 30 years in the United States, I have lived by my values and served my community, and I plan to continue doing so. Silence is no longer an option, whether it's on behalf of those wrongly held by ICE or those suffering under Israel's illegal occupation and its U.S.-backed wars abroad.

I will continue to fight for our U.S. constitutional rights to be protected, not just for myself but for all communities that have been silenced.