U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon ruled that attorneys representing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to provide sufficient evidence to rebut Sarsour’s allegations that he was targeted in retaliation for protected speech. The judge ordered his release from a county jail in Indiana, where he had been held since March 30, while immigration proceedings continue.

Sarsour, a Palestinian-born lawful permanent resident who has lived in the United States for more than three decades, was detained after the government classified him as a foreign policy threat. His attorneys argued that the action was motivated by his public criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights.

In his ruling, Hanlon wrote that the government had not adequately explained why Sarsour was suddenly deemed a threat after years of lawful residence and repeated reviews of his immigration status. The judge stated that invoking foreign policy interests does not automatically override constitutional protections for free expression.

Sarsour was released several hours after the decision. In a statement, he said he was relieved to return to his family after nearly 80 days in detention and vowed to continue speaking on behalf of Palestinians and broader humanitarian causes.

The case has also drawn attention to concerns about detainee health care. Sarsour, who has Type 2 diabetes, lost more than 30 pounds during his detention, according to his attorneys, who alleged that inadequate monitoring of his condition placed him at serious medical risk. His legal team cited those health concerns as a factor supporting his release.

DHS did not immediately comment on the ruling. Earlier this month, a department spokesperson rejected allegations of mistreatment in ICE custody, stating that detainees receive adequate food and medical care, and described Sarsour as both a criminal and a terrorist.

The ruling comes amid broader scrutiny of detention conditions in U.S. immigration facilities. An investigation by KFF Health News and The Associated Press found that hundreds of detainees in at least 33 states have filed federal lawsuits alleging medical neglect while in custody.

Sarsour has no criminal record in the United States. Court records show he was convicted by an Israeli military court in 1989 of throwing a Molotov cocktail and stones at Israeli forces and in 1995 of attempting to possess weapons and ammunition. Sarsour has denied committing those offenses.

Hanlon noted that U.S. authorities had long been aware of the Israeli convictions and had considered them multiple times during reviews of Sarsour’s immigration status, including assessments related to naturalization eligibility. Despite that history, the government did not seek his detention until this year.

Government attorneys argued that Sarsour did not enjoy the same First Amendment protections as U.S. citizens. Hanlon rejected that position, writing that individuals lawfully present in the United States are entitled to constitutional protections, including free speech rights.

The judge also cited Sarsour’s longstanding community ties in Milwaukee, including his wife, six children and nine grandchildren, all of whom are U.S. citizens, as factors weighing in favor of release while the immigration case proceeds.

Judge Dale E. Ho of the Southern District of New York issued an emergency order extending protections that were due to expire on Monday, allowing Yemeni nationals to remain in the United States while a broader legal challenge proceeds.

TPS allows foreign nationals from countries facing war, natural disasters or extraordinary conditions to stay in the United States temporarily, shielding them from deportation and granting work and travel authorization.In his 36-page ruling, Ho said Congress had established a clear legal framework for altering or rescinding TPS protections and criticized former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for failing to follow that process.

He also sharply rebuked comments Noem made in December on social media after meeting President Donald Trump, in which she called for a travel ban on countries she said were “flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”“TPS holders from Yemen are not ‘killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,’” Ho wrote at the beginning of his conclusion, arguing that such rhetoric undermined the humanitarian intent of the law.

The judge cited individual cases including a pregnant woman in Detroit whose unborn child has a congenital heart condition not treatable in Yemen, and a former human rights worker in Brooklyn who said he remained a target of Houthi-aligned militias if returned.Before the ruling, protections for Yemeni refugees were set to end Monday, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Government figures show 2,810 Yemenis currently hold TPS status, while another 425 have pending applications.The Department of Homeland Security defended the administration’s position, saying TPS was always intended to be temporary and that Secretary Noem had reviewed conditions in Yemen and consulted relevant agencies before determining the country no longer met the legal standard for protected status.

“Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from activist judges legislating from the bench,” the department said in a statement, adding that allowing Yemeni beneficiaries to remain was “contrary to our national interest.”The Trump administration has moved to terminate TPS protections for nationals from nine countries as part of its broader immigration crackdown, including Haiti, Venezuela and Ethiopia.

Rights advocates welcomed the ruling. Razeen Zaman, director of immigrant rights at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the decision made clear that humanitarian protections should not be transformed into “a deportation pipeline.”Yemen was first designated for TPS in 2015, roughly a year after civil war broke out in the country.

The Obama and Biden administrations repeatedly renewed the designation as fighting, displacement and humanitarian conditions worsened.In 2024, U.S. officials estimated that 2,300 Yemenis were eligible to renew protected status and another 1,700 were newly eligible under the program.

Judge Ho also pointed to recent federal court rulings that allowed migrants from other conflict-hit countries to remain in the United States, signaling broader judicial scrutiny of efforts to narrow humanitarian protections through executive action.

These individuals have been instructed to leave the country before their permits and deportation protections are terminated on April 24, as per a federal notice.

The affected migrants were admitted under a Biden-era sponsorship initiative known as CHNV, which aimed to provide legal pathways for migration. However, Trump suspended the program upon assuming office.

It remains uncertain how many of these migrants have secured alternative legal status that would allow them to stay in the U.S.

Background of the CHNV Program

Initiated in 2022 under Democratic President Joe Biden, the CHNV program initially focused on Venezuelans before expanding to include additional nationalities. The initiative allowed eligible migrants and their immediate family members to enter the U.S. with American sponsors and remain for two years under a temporary immigration status called parole.

The Biden administration had advocated that CHNV would reduce illegal border crossings while ensuring thorough vetting of entrants. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) criticized the program, stating it had not met its intended goals.

In a statement, DHS officials accused the previous administration of using the program to facilitate job competition between migrants and American workers, compelling civil servants to support the initiative despite evidence of fraud, and blaming congressional Republicans for subsequent border issues.

Potential Exceptions and Further Policy Changes

While the Federal Register’s 35-page notice confirmed the program’s termination, it suggested that some CHNV recipients might be permitted to stay on a case-by-case basis.

Trump is also reportedly reviewing the temporary legal status of approximately 240,000 Ukrainians who sought refuge in the U.S. during Russia’s invasion.

The CHNV program had allowed:

213,000 Haitians to enter the U.S. amid worsening conditions in their homeland.

120,700 Venezuelans, 110,900 Cubans, and over 93,000 Nicaraguans to seek refuge before Trump ended the initiative.

Termination of Other Immigration Protections

Last month, DHS announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 500,000 Haitians as of August 2025. TPS, a designation for nationals from countries facing extreme conditions such as armed conflict or natural disasters, had also been revoked for Venezuelans, though this decision is currently facing legal challenges.

Since taking office in January, Trump’s immigration policies have encountered several legal obstacles, raising questions about the long-term future of these measures and their broader impact on affected migrant communities.