Judge Rules US Can Deport the Leader of Wisconsin’s Largest Mosque

The U.S. can deport the Palestinian-born leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque on the grounds that he is a foreign policy threat, an immigration judge ruled Wednesday, while rejecting allegations that he lied on his green card application.

Salah Sarsour was detained in Milwaukee in March by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. A federal judge ordered Sarsour’s release in June, saying he raised a “substantial” claim that the Trump administration was targeting him for speaking out against Israel and advocating for Palestinian rights.

Sarsour said in a statement that the ruling was “deeply disappointing,” but that he intends to appeal.

“I will continue fighting to defend the right to free speech and to stay in the country I have called home for more than three decades,” Sarsour said.

The government says Sarsour’s decades-old terrorism convictions in Israel make him a threat to national security in the U.S. and accuse him of lying about it on his green card application.

Immigration Judge Jayme Salinardi agreed but tossed out the claim that he lied.

Sarsour, who was born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was imprisoned in Israel in 1988 after confessing to throwing a Molotov cocktail and stones at Israeli military personnel. In 1995, he was convicted of attempting to hold weapons and ammunition. Sarsour denies committing those crimes. His attorneys say he was tortured and coerced into confessing in both instances.

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