A former chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Wednesday.
Imam Ayman Soliman immigrated to the U.S. more than a decade ago from Egypt and was granted asylum status, according to immigration advocates at Ignite Peace Cincinnati. While in the U.S., Soliman became a board member for the Clifton Mosque, the Islamic Association of Cincinnati and the Initiative on Islam and Medicine. According to his bio on the Clifton Mosque’s website, Soliman holds undergraduate degrees in Islamic studies, Qura’n and Islamic Da’wah. He holds a Master’s degree in Islamic Studies and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Divinity in Islamic Studies and Muslim Chaplaincy as well as a PhD in Islamic Studies. He has also served as a chaplain at Northwestern University and in the prison system before becoming the imam and chaplain at Cincinnati Children’s.
Soliman has no criminal record, but his asylum status was revoked in December 2024, according to Ignite Peace. Advocates told reporters that his immigration hearing to appeal the asylum decision was recently canceled. Instead, Soliman was detained by ICE and taken to the Butler County Jail on Wednesday morning.
Local faith leaders, elected officials and immigration advocates held a press conference outside the Department of Homeland Security office in Blue Ash Wednesday to discuss Soliman’s arrest.
Tala Ali, chairperson of the Clifton Mosque and the Islamic Association of Cincinnati, told reporters that Soliman serves families of all faiths in the Cincinnati community.
“He not only serves Muslim families, but families of all backgrounds and faiths,” she said. “He holds presence and pastoral care for all people.”
As a chaplain for Cincinnati Children’s, Soliman served patients and their parents as a member of their healthcare team. Also referred to as spiritual care providers, Cincinnati Children’s website says chaplains can help families by performing prayers upon request, offer emotional support, help doctors understand how a patient’s beliefs affect their healthcare decisions, and more.
“When parents with sick children come to the hospital, they found comfort with Ayman Soliman,” said Khalid Turaani, executive director of the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR) in Ohio. “He was comforting people who might have been on their last day on earth.”
State Rep. Rachel Baker (D-27) also spoke to reporters about Soliman’s work as a chaplain for Cincinnati Children’s.
“Being a healthcare provider, I know firsthand how important our clergy in the hospital system is,” Baker said. “They’re there for the moment of need for our most vulnerable, for their families when they need empathy and kindness and compassion and understanding. That is what Imam gave to our youngest Ohioans.”
Baker was one of several state representatives, lawyers and advocates to escort Soliman to his ICE check-in appointment on Wednesday. He also brought letters of support from community members vouching for his contributions to the community.
“I really felt a spark of hope that things would go right in this case,” Baker said. “And then to hear that he was detained…I just call on everyone to stand for what’s right.”
Rep. Munira Abdullahi (D-09) was also present during his ICE check-in. She said Soliman’s work in Cincinnati “has become a bridge to this community.”
“A bridge to different faiths, people who don’t always agree, and he’s been that peace,” she said. “Not only does he provide healing at the hospital as a chaplain…he also provides healing in the community as a liaison to different groups.”
It’s unclear if or when Soliman will get an immigration hearing on his asylum case, but Abdullahi said he faces “certain death” if he were to be sent back to his home country of Egypt.
“This is a man of the community, and this is who ICE is taking away from us,” she said. “You don’t have to contribute to society, by the way, to be afforded safety. This is not the democracy that America has promised. He came here seeking peace and safety. He’s a political asylum seeker from Egypt who is facing certain death if he gets returned, so we’re here calling for his release.”
Soliman was questioned by ICE agents as well as other federal agents Wednesday before his arrest, including about his political affiliations, advocates told reporters.
Federal court records show Soliman has filed lawsuits against federal government officials in the past.
In one lawsuit against the FBI’s Threat Screening Center, formerly known as the Terrorist Screening Center, Soliman indicated that an “FBI flag” had appeared on his background check for a job as a prison chaplain, despite having no criminal record.
CityBeat has submitted requests for information regarding Soliman’s immigration status and presence on any watch lists to federal agencies.
“For him to be detained in such a way by ICE is not only unfortunate and is a concern for our community, but I think is a travesty for America,” Turaani said. “They were telling us they were detaining gangsters and rapists and drug dealers, now they’re detaining faith leaders? There’s something amiss in this whole policy.”
Background
On June 3, ICE set an arrest record of more than 2,200 arrests in a single day, according to the agency. Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has been pushing for an even higher daily quota, looking to set a minimum goal of 3,000 ICE arrests per day. To this end, senior ICE officials have urged officers to “turn the creative knob up to 11” by arresting “collaterals” — noncitizen immigrants encountered by agents while serving arrest warrants for others — according to internal agency emails viewed by The Guardian. Trump’s pursuit of mass deportations got a boost with the passage of Trump’s sweeping “Big Beautiful Bill” on July 4. The tax cut and spending bill significantly increases funding for ICE. The agency is set to receive an infusion of more than $100 billion through 2029, including $29.9 billion in additional funding to hire 10,000 new ICE agents.
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This article appears in Jul 9-22, 2025.