Noel J. Saleh is an attorney in private practice, specializing in civil liberties and immigration law. He is nationally recognized as a leading immigrant advocate. He has successfully challenged “secret evidence” and “special interest” cases. Noel is an emeritus board member of ACCESS and has served on the ACCESS board since 1989.
From January 2002 to October 2005, Noel was the post-9/11 Safe and Free Project staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. Noel took a sabbatical from his private law practice to help the ACLU’s outreach efforts to the Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities and to coordinate legal work in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC. He was a member of the ACLU legal team, which filed the first direct constitutional challenge to Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.
Noel has a long history of community involvement. Prior to his legal career, Noel was the Associate Director at the Inter-Faith Centers for Racial Justice (ICRJ), NW Center. Prior to his legal career, Noel was the Associate Director at the Inter-Faith Centers for Racial Justice ICRJ), NW Center. The ICRJ was established in the aftermath of the 1967 urban rebellion in the City of Detroit to educate and organize white Americans to combat institutional racism. He is currently the chairman of the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit and serves on the executive committee of the ACLU of Michigan. Noel also has served on the boards of the Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Board; the National Immigration Forum (NIF); the Rights Working Group; Palestine Aid Society of America; American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee; National Lawyers Guild; and was a member of the Michigan Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.