CINCINNATI — Ayman Soliman, the former Cincinnati Children's chaplain detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this month, has filed a new lawsuit challenging the termination of his asylum status.
The complaint, filed Thursday against the federal government, claims the decision by U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services to terminate his asylum status in June "relies on factual errors, misinterpreted academic sources, impermissible burden shifting, and violates res judicata, rendering it arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law."
Soliman is calling for his status to be reinstated and asking a judge to prevent his removal from the country until this case is over. A judge has already said the Clifton Mosque imam will remain at the Butler County Jail through at least July 30, as he awaits a second hearing in Cleveland Immigration Court.
We have previously reported on why Soliman's asylum status was revoked years after it was granted.
WATCH: We speak with Soliman's legal team as U.S. shifts arguments in court
Soliman's legal team has said he was previously a board member of the group Al-Jameya al Shareya, also written as Al-Gam’iyya al Shar’iyya, while he was in Egypt. That information, they said, was disclosed when he applied for asylum and was known to the government.
The lawsuit says the government then, "without new evidence or law," terminated Soliman's status, alleging Al-Jameya al Shareya supported a Tier III terrorist organization, which officials identified as the Muslim Brotherhood.
While the U.S. says Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, has roots in the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and some of the leaders of the foreign terrorist organization HASM were previously associated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the U.S. has not designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization at this time.
Additionally, Soliman's lawsuit said the group he was a member of is a "decentralized charity" that is "not terrorist-linked."
The lawsuit also notes errors in the decision, including the alleged time when Egypt designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
Soliman's lawsuit states that if he returns to Egypt, he will face persecution, something he said in an interview with state Rep. Munira Abdullahi before he went in for his routine check-in that resulted in detainment.
"If anything happens ... going back to Egypt for me is a death sentence," Soliman said. "I didn't come to America seeking a better life. It was escaping death ... from the regime and his supporters."
This is not his first legal battle with the federal government.
Federal court records obtained by WCPO 9 News show Soliman has filed multiple lawsuits against federal government officials and agencies, including the FBI's Threat Screening Center, formerly known as the Terrorist Screening Center. In his initial 2022 lawsuit, Soliman says he had a job offer rescinded because his background check came back with an FBI flag.
In that lawsuit, Soliman claims his fingerprints did not match prints recorded in the government's terrorism screening database.
According to his lawsuit, Soliman was trying to confirm his status and learn why he appeared to be on a federal watchlist despite not having a criminal record.
