The propaganda press is going out of its way to downplay the background of ICE detainee Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian imam who has been living in Cincinnati, Ohio, and who’s asylum, which was granted in 2018, was revoked in December 2024 by former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Soliman has sued the United States in multiple cases over a partially failed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking documents that explain why he has an “FBI flag” on his name.
But pay no attention to his immigration status or his connection to the terror watch list, or that he was imprisoned “multiple times” for his role in political protests in Egypt, according to his legal team. The Cincinnati Enquirer’s headline leads with a more sympathetic description, “Former Cincinnati Children’s Chaplain Detained By ICE.”
“What my hometown paper @Enquirer doesn’t want to tell you is this Egyptian national was flagged on the FBI terror watchlist. He had his asylum status revoked by the *checks notes* BIDEN Administration,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in response to the Enquirer’s headline.
The Enquirer covered a press conference held by Soliman’s supporters, where they too milked the holy-man angle, saying he was an interfaith chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and a cherished member of the community.
“They are telling us they’re detaining gangsters and rapists and drug dealers. Now they’re detaining faith leaders,” Khalid Turaani, Executive Director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Ohio said during the presser. “There’s something amiss in this whole policy that they are trying to market it as detaining criminals when they are really not doing so.”
No one at the press conference questions why ICE detained Soliman. They just automatically believe it is wrong.
“This is a man of the community. And this is who ICE is trying to take away from us. Someone who has brought people together,” said Ohio state Rep. Munira Abdullahi, a Democrat. “[The gathering of supporters] says so much about his contributions to this community. And you don’t have to contribute to society, by the way, to be afforded safety. It’s not the democracy that America has promised.”
The treatment is similar in other headlines. “ICE detains Cincinnati Children’s chaplain previously granted asylum,” reports WCPO TV in Cincinnati. And, “ICE Detains Former Children’s Chaplain After Revoking His Asylum, Leaving Community Furious,” writes Huffpost.
Yes. Incredibly, Huffpost still exists, and in this piece, the portrait of Soliman is credited to Young United Souls for Revolutionary Action (YUSRA), which is mobilizing support for him on social media.
“YUSRA participates in a range of revolutionary actions aimed at fostering systemic change and advocating for justice and equity,” according to its website.
While Soliman may be detained solely because he no longer has status to be in the United States, (The precise reason is unclear. ICE did not respond to The Federalist’s request for more detail) it is worth reflecting on the fact that Soliman was jailed multiple times in his home country for political activism and is being supported by the political activist group YUSRA. We should not miss that the words “Revolutionary Action” are part of that group’s name.
Soliman’s lawsuits were brought with the backing of the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America (CLCMA). Soliman, who lives in Ohio, sued the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) through the Department of Homeland Security over the previously mentioned FOIA requests. This case was heard by Judge Amir Ali in the Washington, D.C. District Court. As I previously reported, Ali was born and raised in Canada to Egyptian parents, only became a citizen of the U.S. in 2019 and has spent much of his short career supporting Muslim causes. What an interesting coincidence that, of all the judges in the country, he landed in Ali’s court.
Soliman also sued the Terrorist Screening Center to learn what information they are keeping on him. Was this case heard in Ohio? No. Back to Washington, D.C., this time with Judge Loren AliKhan, another left-leaning judge.
News of Soliman’s detention has not yet crested, but as it does, expect the narrative to be mostly about his religious work and minimally about his immigration status.
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
