Local Imam Ayman Soliman, detained by ICE, is scheduled for multiple key court hearings next week.
He currently is being held at the Butler County Jail. His attorneys filed a petition for habeas corpus in federal court, seeking to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from moving Soliman to another jurisdiction. Judge Michael Barrett granted a temporary restraining order July 15, ordering that the government shall "neither remove Soliman from the jurisdiction of the Cleveland Immigration Court nor allow him to be removed."
What to know now
Key points of Soliman's case
- Soliman immigrated to the United States in 2014
- He applied for asylum status in 2015 and it was granted in 2018
- He learned in December 2024 the government was considering revoking his asylum status, prompting a hearing in February
- In early June, Soliman's asylum status was officially revoked
Timeline moving forward
- Soliman's case before Cleveland-based Immigration Judge Jennifer Riedthaler-Williams is set for a scheduling hearing July 22 at 1 p.m.
- The next morning at 8:30, Soliman will have a hearing in immigration court to formally request to be released on bond
- He will join these hearings remotely from the Butler County Jail, according to his legal team
- Following that, on July 24, a federal hearing will take place on Judge Barrett's restraining order prohibiting ICE from relocating Soliman
Immigration and asylum
Soliman is an Egyptian national who worked as a freelance journalist during years of intense political conflict. He reportedly was jailed and tortured several times for this activity, prompting his move to the United States in 2014.
Soliman applied for political asylum in 2015, within the required deadline for asylum application. His application was granted in 2018; he then applied for permission to bring his wife and child from Egypt to the U.S. under the asylum status.
Asylum status granted Soliman authorization to work in the U.S. He began a job as a Muslim chaplain at the Oregon Department of Corrections in 2021, but was unable to continue working there (more information below).
He began work at Cincinnati Children's Hospital in 2021 as the first and only Muslim chaplain there. In Cincinnati, he also served on the board of Clifton Mosque, and was recently filling in as temporary imam while that community searched for a full-time imam.
Soon after being granted asylum status, Soliman applied for a green card to start the process of becoming a permanent legal resident.
"We're now six years into that," said Kathryn Brady, Immigration Litigation Department Head at the Muslim Legal Fund of America. "I believe his green card has been pending far longer than it needs to be, and far longer than most people."
Why Soliman's asylum status was revoked
In December 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services informed Soliman they were considering revoking his asylum status.
There are many reasons an immigrant's asylum status can be revoked, such as criminal conduct in the United States, or a change of circumstances in the home country that eliminates the need for asylum. Brady says neither was true in Soliman's case; instead, USCIS said they believed he was not actually eligible for asylum.
"They have factual things that they wanted to clarify," Brady said. "They also had some things where they were kind of looking at it differently than maybe the first officer had done."
An asylum officer with UCIS said the change in Soliman's status was due to his time on the board of an Egyptian community organization called Al-Jameya al Shareya, sometimes also written as Al-Gam’iyya al Shar’iyya. The government alleges the nongovernmental organization has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, but some international observers say that has more to do with the country's politics than its activities.
There has been debate about the organization's nature — and some controversial and even violent groups have allegedly spun off from the Brotherhood. But calls to designate the Brotherhood itself a terrorist group in the United States have been met with pushback from experts who say it is nonviolent.
The asylum officer said Soliman's membership in a group with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood constituted “material support for terrorism," Soliman's attorneys say.
But Soliman's attorneys point out the Muslim Brotherhood has been in Egypt almost a century and had been ubiquitous in many aspects of the country's civic life. They also say Soliman disclosed his connections with the AGS in his initial asylum application and his asylum claim was granted.
"The accusation was astounding," his legal team said in a July 16 statement. "Al-Jameya al Shareya is not a terrorist group. It is a nongovernmental organization that provides medical services and charitable community services. Neither the U.S. government nor the Egyptian government has designated AGS/AJS a terrorist group."
Brady attended a hearing for Soliman's asylum consideration in February. Five months later, in early June, USCIS officially informed Soliman that he was ineligible for asylum.
Soliman's attorneys have pledged to continue pushing back on the asylum reversal.
"The government's tortured attempt at six degrees of separation fails to connect Ayman to any terrorist organization or activity, and an appropriate analysis of the evidence will show that," MLFA attorney Franchel D. Daniel said in a statement.
Soliman's status as of mid-July
Because his work authorization was tied to asylum status, Soliman could no longer work at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
"We are hopeful that we can get him some employment authorization again, because technically now he is back to a pending asylum case, and that has a different work authorization," Brady said.
Cincinnati Children's declined to comment.
USCIS told Soliman he needed to report to the Homeland Security office in Blue Ash on July 9. After three hours of questioning by USCIS and FBI, he was officially detained; he has not been released since. He is being held at the Butler County Jail.
A group of supporters accompanied him that morning, including State Rep. Munira Abdullahi from the Columbus area. She took a video of Soliman describing the situation and his fear about what would happen, which was later posted to social media.
"Going back to Egypt, for me, is a death sentence," Soliman said in the video. "I didn't come to American to seek a better life — I was escaping death."
Soliman's legal team includes the Muslim Legal Fund of America, as well as an attorney in Cleveland (where the immigration hearings take place) and one in Cincinnati.
"Mr. Soliman’s swift and safe release remains our top priority,” said Cleveland-based Robert Ratliff in a statement. "Regardless of how many years he has spent in the United States or previous legal proceedings, Mr. Soliman is entitled to have his application reviewed ultimately as an asylum seeker. Serving as a refuge for those fleeing persecution has been and must remain a cornerstone of American immigration policy. Like so many others, Mr. Soliman courageously escaped threats of violence and oppression to build a new life and community. The Court’s next steps must reflect our country’s long-standing values."
WVXU has reached out to ICE for comment but has not heard back.
His FBI lawsuit
Separate from Soliman's immigration case, he sued the FBI and the Terrorist Screening Center in 2021 after an "FBI flag" on his record resulted in Soliman losing a job as a Muslim chaplain at the Oregon Department of Corrections.
The Muslim Legal Fund of America is representing Soliman in that case as well.
A federal court hearing in the lawsuit took place in November 2024, after which a judge allowed the lawsuit to continue. The legal team submitted an updated complaint in December, since the original lawsuit was filed almost three years earlier.
A separate lawsuit was filed in May against the Terrorist Screen Center, challenging that agency's failure to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests.
Both lawsuits are pending and will continue regardless of the outcome of Soliman's immigration case.
Community support
A large crowd gathered outside Cincinnati Children's Hospital on Sunday evening to express support for Soliman. It was the latest in an outpouring of support for the imam.
Cincinnati City Council member Mark Jeffreys criticized Soliman's detention on social media.
"Detaining a faith leader who serves our children and community is unjust, inhumane and cruel," Jeffreys said. "ICE should release him immediately. Let’s focus our immigration enforcement on going after violent criminals, not faith leaders."
Many praise Soliman's involvement leadership in the Greater Cincinnati Muslim community. Soliman was one of hundreds who called on Cincinnati City Council to pass a ceasefire resolution in spring 2024.
"You can imagine the pain and the burden over my shoulders to deal with our staff and my Muslim community members as a person who works at a pediatric hospital imagining what is happening of the bombardment of the hospitals in Gaza," Soliman said.
City Council did pass a resolution that day, but it fell short of what advocates had been requesting for several weeks. Council member Anna Albi introduced the resolution, which supported a specific six-week ceasefire that was under negotiations at the time (but eventually fell through).
Many Palestinian advocates praised Council's action, but many others said the resolution was watered down — calling for a temporary ceasefire rather than a permanent one.
"Your silence, your hesitation, to pass a resolution of a permanent ceasefire puts another burden over my shoulders," Soliman said on March 6, 2024. "If you turn a blind eye and continue the deafness towards the cries of our community, we might lose the opportunity and we'll hold you accountable."
The Greater Cincinnati Board of Rabbis released a statement expressing alarm at Soliman's detention.
"Many of us personally know and have worked with Imam Soliman," the statement says. "For years, he has been a model member of and leader in Cincinnati’s faith community. Recognizing the complexity of immigration cases, we affirm that Imam Soliman represents precisely the type of person we want to remain in Cincinnati: Compassionate, intelligent, and collegial."
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