Justice Demands It: Organizations Call for Immediate Release of Imam Ayman Soliman
As a coalition of community organizations, faith-based institutions, advocacy groups, and civil rights defenders, we stand in unified support of Imam Ayman Soliman and call for his immediate release from immigration detention.
Mr. Soliman is a respected faith leader, a former chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and a volunteer imam and board member at Clifton Mosque in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is widely known by community members, medical professionals, parents, and interfaith leaders as a man of deep compassion and integrity who has dedicated his life to spiritual care, service, and healing.
Mr. Soliman fled Egypt in 2014 after being repeatedly imprisoned and tortured for his work as a journalist documenting the Arab Spring. In 2018, the United States granted him asylum after recognizing the credible threat to his life if he returned. He abided by all legal processes, applied for permanent residency, and built a peaceful life of service—supporting families through loss, children through illness, and communities through trauma.
Despite this, on July 9, Mr. Soliman was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his asylum was abruptly revoked without a hearing. He now faces indefinite detention and the threat of deportation to a country where his life is at risk.
Mr. Soliman has no criminal history. He has worked in hospitals, prisons, and mosques across several states and holds multiple degrees in Islamic Studies and chaplaincy. His detention is not only unjust, it is deeply harmful to the communities he has served.
His case reflects a disturbing and growing pattern in which Muslim immigrants—particularly those who have challenged governmental systems or spoken out against injustice—are targeted through opaque and unaccountable processes. We are especially troubled by the possibility that Mr. Soliman’s detention is retaliatory, connected to his ongoing federal lawsuit against the government for being wrongfully placed on the Terrorist Screening Database.
We stand with Imam Ayman Soliman, his legal team, and the many voices across Ohio and the nation calling for his release. Detaining a man of peace, faith, and public service not only violates the ideals of our justice system, it dishonors the values of safety and refuge that the United States claims to uphold.
We urge the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and all relevant officials to release Mr. Soliman immediately, restore his due process rights, and ensure that he is not transferred out of state while his legal case proceeds.
We will not remain silent as faith leaders and immigrants are criminalized for seeking safety. Imam Ayman Soliman belongs with the community he has so selflessly served.
In solidarity,
YUSRA Organizing
Ohioans Against Extremism
Ohio Immigrant Alliance
Cleveland Jobs with Justice
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network
Unitarian Universalist Association
Ignite Peace
Party for Socialism and Liberation - Columbus
Frontera Federation
Never Again Action
OPAWL - Building AAPI Feminist Leadership
Cincinnati Palestine Solidarity Coalition
Food Justice DMV
Make the Road NJ
Ohio Women's Alliance
Bold New Democracy
Dayton Anti-racist Network
Miami Valley Immigration Coalition
Jewish Voice for Peace Central Ohio
Party for Socialism & Liberation-Southwest Ohio
Showing Up for Racial Justice Central Ohio
Ohio Equal Rights
Progressive Peace Coalition
Indivisible of Springfield, Ohio
Central Ohio Worker Center
T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
Central Ohio Jews For Justice
Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists
Muslim Advocates
Shema Cincinnati
Muslims for Just Futures
Justice, Unity, and Social Transformation (JUST)