Ayman Soliman, the former Muslim chaplain at Cincinnati Children's Hospital whom federal authorities are trying to deport on what his lawyers are saying is a trumped-up basis. (Photo courtesy of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.)
More than a dozen faith leaders gathered at the Ohio Statehouse Monday to urge Gov. Mike DeWine to speak out on behalf of a Muslim cleric whom the Trump administration is trying to deport.
Ayman Soliman, a former chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, is being held in the Butler County Jail as Immigration and Customs Enforcement tries to deport him to Egypt.
After being granted asylum in 2018, Soliman was arrested on July 9 as federal officials have used a shifting set of reasons and misrepresentations to get him out of the country.
“The case against Ayman Soliman is non-existent,” Tala Ali, who was with Soliman at the time of his arrest, said Monday.
Under pressure from President Donald Trump to make 3,000 immigration-related arrests a day, officials accused Soliman of providing “material support” to terrorists in Egypt more than a decade ago.
Soliman was beaten and tortured by Egypt’s totalitarian government after he worked with western journalists during the Arab Spring uprising, his lawyers said last month.
Trump administration lawyers accused Soliman of supporting terrorism because his organization provided charitable services before the Egyptian uprising that sometimes overlapped with those provided by the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization.
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However, the brotherhood is not listed as a terrorist organization by the United States. And its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, won an internationally recognized election in 2012. A military coup deposed that government in 2013 and later jailed Soliman for his work as a journalist.
Soliman came to the United States in 2014, seeking asylum. The Egyptian government that jailed him is still in power, and Soliman’s supporters said the consequences will be dire if he is forced to return.
Ali said “it would surely be a death sentence for him.”
As a state official, DeWine has no power over Soliman’s case. But the cleric’s supporters are hoping the Republican governor will speak in support of Soliman as he did last year for Haitian refugees living in Springfield.
Trump and his then-running mate, then-Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, spread the racist lie that Haitians were stealing neighbors’ pets and eating them. Now the Trump administration is attempting to end temporary protected status for 348,000 Haitians nationwide, forcing many back to a country that doesn’t have a functioning government.
The clerics gathered at the Ohio Statehouse Monday said Soliman’s continued imprisonment is a “significant loss to the spiritual and moral well‑being of many Ohioans.”
That’s why they were asking DeWine to speak out.
“Throughout your decades of service — as Prosecutor, Attorney General, U.S. Senator, and now Governor — you have acted with courage when injustice demanded it,” they said in a letter they delivered by hand. “In 2024, you defended Haitian immigrants in Springfield, affirming that compassionate immigration aligns with Ohio’s values. During the COVID‑19 pandemic, you prioritized human life even in difficult political contexts. Time and again, you have demonstrated a willingness to do what is right.”
But it’s not clear that the governor will take up their cause.
“We have not issued any statements on this,” DeWine’s press secretary, Dan Tierney, said in an email when asked about Soliman.
For the coming months, anyway, it seems likely that the cleric will remain behind bars in Ohio. He was scheduled for a hearing Tuesday morning conducted by an immigration judge in Cleveland. It’s part of a proceeding that might determine his ultimate status.
But Soliman and his lawyers are also challenging his detention in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. A judge there last week ruled that ICE can’t take him out of Ohio at least until Oct. 7, when the court will hear arguments about the lawfulness of his detention.
Adam Allen worked as a chaplain with Soliman at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital until being fired last month for speaking publicly in support of Soliman. The Mennonite said people were better off because Soliman sought refuge in Ohio.
“Ayman is truly the example of someone we want in this country,” Allen said. “His advocacy for others, his selflessness, and his deep conviction and godly compassion are things that have impacted thousands of families.”
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