CAIR-Chicago

Save the date! 🎉 Join us for CAIR-Chicago’s 2026 Annual Banquet Gala on Sunday, September 20, 2026 at Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. Stay tuned for exciting details, featured guests, and ticket sales coming soon!

In today’s climate of anti-Muslim hate, travel bans, and rising attacks on immigrants, our community continues to face profiling, discrimination, and even wrongful detention or deportation.   Despite the fearmongering, remember this: you have RIGHTS. CAIR-Chicago stands as your first line of defense — keeping you informed, empowered, and legally protected.   📘 Download our Pocket “Know Your Rights” Guide /protectingyourrights   📝 Know your right to remain silent, speak to a lawyer, refuse a search without a judicial warrant, and document interactions safely.   📣 Request a Know Your Rights Workshop: /request-a-speaker We can come to your masjid, school, community space, or meet virtually. Trainings can be tailored to your needs and offered in multiple languages.   🛫 24/7 Travel Help – Register Your Flight BEFORE You Go:   🧾 Immigration & Asylum Support – Submit a Legal Intake: Immigration: /get-immigration-help Asylum: /get-asylum-help   You’re not alone — CAIR-Chicago is here to protect and stand with you every step of the way.

Know Your Rights! CAIR-Chicago & Muslim Bar Association offer trainings, request a speaker TODAY via /request-a-speaker —link in bio! We offer Know Your Rights presentations to help Chicagoland mosques, community centers, Islamic schools, and businesses understand how to respond to ICE and protect their communities. 📍 We’ll come to you in person or meet virtually via Zoom!

🚨IN THE NEWS: A recent CBS News article by Mikayla Price highlights CAIR-Chicago’s lawsuit against what we allege as coordinated doxing campaigns by Canary Mission and StopAntisemitism.   Stay tuned for updates after Monday, May 18th’s hearing! These networks have dangerously harmed students and professionals who speak up for Palestine against Israel’s genocide and human rights abuses. Those targeted often face online harassment, reputational harm, and real-world consequences at school and in the workplace.   This case is about pushing back against efforts to silence voices through intimidation and protecting the right to speak up for human rights without fear.   Read the article: tr.ee/caircbs   Been Targeted? Report it: cairchicago.org/doxing   Support our work: cairchicago.org/legalfund

Chicago and West Ridge Community 📢 Join us for another in-person Know Your Rights Workshop for community members and local businesses at the Rohingya Culture Center on Devon. MJF Legal Network, CAIR Chicago, and NLG Chicago will cover the following: - Your rights under the Law - Family & Workplace Preparedness Plans - How to Safely Navigate Encounters with Local Law and Immigration Enforcement - Provide Legal Immigration Resources to the community in English and translated into Rohingya 🗓 Friday, May 22nd, from 3:00-4:00pm 📍Rohingya Culture Center Register for the workshop: bit.ly/RCC-KYR2 We hope to see you there!

Facts matter. Let’s cut through all the noise and get to the bottom of what sharia is. And also what it isn’t. #sharia #sharialaw #mythvsfact

Thrilled to announce @cairchicago as the community impact partner for Apna Bazaar Season 2. By partnering with @cairchicago we hope to amplify their efforts in building & uplifting our community. We are proud of this partnership and hope to bring about real change. See you May 30th, 1-11pm at @waterfordbanquet ✨

Thank you @uprisingtheater for having the CAIR-Chicago team in to see @palestine36film ! The historical context surrounding the world’s most urgent issues is important for us to know. @watermelonpictures continues to help deliver incredible and significant films. Make sure you go see your next movie at @uprisingtheater 💯🎥

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Jordan Esparza-Kelley gave public comment today alongside AMP-Chicago in support of Resolution R2026-0024891, calling on DHS and ICE to immediately release Salah Sarsour and protect immigrant rights from further abuses of power. The resolution was introduced by Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Ald. Anthony Quezada, and Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez. “Today we are here to advocate for Salah Sarsour, a man who has diligently served his community for over 25 years, kidnapped from his family and community for fictitious reasons,” Jordan said during public comment. Salah Sarsour is a longtime lawful permanent resident, father, grandfather, and respected community leader whose detention raises serious concerns about due process, transparency, and the targeting of protected speech. 📽️ Watch the hearing and alderpersons’ presentations youtube.com/cairchicago or at the link in bio. Join us at City Hall on May 19 at 12:30 PM in Room 201A as the Committee on Health and Human Relations reconvenes to continue discussion on the resolution. 🚨 Show up and demand justice for Salah. #FreeSalahSarsour

“This isn't just about Salah Sarsour…. This isn't even [just] about Israel-Palestine. This is about America. This is about our foundational pillar of freedom of expression and the right to protest and dissent. And this is about the greatest threat to American freedoms in the last two centuries posed namely by a singular foreign government thousands of miles away called the State of Israel.” “And it keeps doing it. Millions of dollars are frozen of federal funding from being given to research universities until they clamp down on the freedom of descent of their American students. American employees all across the country are fired or not hired or otherwise disciplined for speaking out responsibly on social media against genocide because of the pressure of that foreign government.” - Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations – Chicago, speaking at a press conference denouncing the wrongful imprisonment of prominent Palestinian American community leader Salah Sarsour by ICE / Border Patrol. Chicago, 5/7/2026

At today’s press conference in City Hall following the presentation of a resolution in support of Salah Sarsour, his son Kareem Sarsour shared emotional testimony about the ICE detention and transfer of his father— a longtime lawful permanent resident, father, grandfather, caregiver, and respected community leader. Speakers included advocates from AMP Chicago, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Ald. Anthony Quezada, USPCN, PYM Chicago, and CAIR-Chicago.   Advocates condemned the ongoing abuse of immigration enforcement powers and warned that cases like Salah’s reflect broader attacks on immigrant communities, due process rights, and protected political speech. Resolution R2026-0024891 calls for Salah Sarsour’s immediate release and demands accountability from DHS and ICE. 🚨 Join us at City Hall on May 19 at 12:30 PM in Room 201A as the Committee on Health and Human Relations reconvenes. Stand with Salah and demand justice. #FreeSalahSarsour

Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, joined elected officials and community organizers for a press conference following a hearing on HB2723, legislation that would repeal a 2015 Illinois law prohibiting companies from boycotting Israel. Coalition members emphasized the bill is about protecting constitutional rights and ensuring Illinois residents aren’t penalized for engaging in nonviolent boycotts while also raising concerns about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the role of public institutions in enabling harm. Here at CAIR-Chicago we believe defending constitutional rights means protecting the freedom to boycott 💯 Read more: cairchicago.org/blog 👈🏽