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Analysis
The Trump Administration’s Latest Attacks on Muslim Community Leaders
After months in detention, we finally received the good news that Ohio chaplain Ayman Soliman was released from jail as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dropped his deportation case. Soliman was an interfaith chaplain at a children’s hospital and a longtime leader of the Ohio Muslim community with deep ties to interfaith work across the state. As ProPublica reported, Soliman’s asylum status was restored and his application for a green card was revived. This news came through the dedicated hard work and advocacy of many organizations, particularly CAIR-Ohio and his colleagues at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, who were fired for speaking out on his behalf.
But now, even as we celebrate his release, we learned about another Muslim community leader taken into detention. Marwan Marouf, a leader of the Dallas chapter of the Muslim American Society, was taken into detention by the Department of Homeland Security after he dropped his son off at school. For decades, Marouf has been a key figure in the Dallas Muslim community, led critical efforts for community support during the COVID Pandemic, and helped lead interfaith outreach across the city.
Rather than keeping anyone safe, this attack represents another unacceptable escalation in the administration’s efforts to target religious freedom. By attacking a key leader of the Muslim community, the administration is demonstrating yet again that they do not value religious freedom for all, but rather only for the select few.
Many organizations have already been representing him and calling for his release, including CAIR and CAIR-Texas, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council. A Muslim youth group in Dallas also started a petition with over 12,000 signatories to date calling for his release.
Our interfaith alliances are made for this moment: it’s time to continue loudly speaking out against anti-Muslim bigotry and calling for religious freedom to apply for all.
We call on the Trump administration to immediately facilitate Marouf’s release from detention and to fairly process his green card application.
Zev Mishell is the National Programs Associate at Interfaith Alliance.
The views and beliefs expressed in this post and all Interfaith Alliance blogs are those held by the author of each respective piece. Nothing in this blog post is an endorsement of any political candidate. To learn more about the organizational views, policies, and positions of Interfaith Alliance on any issues, please contact info@interfaithalliance.org.
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Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation case has alarming implications
Earlier this year, during the holy month of Ramadan, ICE agents followed Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil home after he broke his fast and forcibly detained him without a warrant. Khalil, a Palestinian activist, was then disappeared into an unmarked vehicle and taken to an unknown location as his pregnant wife watched and pleaded for information. It was later revealed that Khalil had been moved to a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, where he faced deportation. He was held for over three months in poor conditions, missing his graduation and the birth of his first child.
True Religious Freedom Means Protecting Our Faith Leaders, Not Detaining Them
In early July, Ayman Soliman, a former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his asylum status was terminated in June. In response, local faith leaders organized a prayer vigil, rally, and peaceful march; during the march at least 15 protesters were detained by local police and charged with felony rioting.
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