Palestinian-born US mosque leader faces deportation after judge rules he is ‘foreign policy threat’
A US immigration judge has ruled that Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born mosque leader in Wisconsin, is subject to deportation on foreign policy grounds. While the judge rejected claims that Sarsour lied on his green card application, the government maintains his past terrorism-related convictions in Israel pose a national security threat.
Why it matters
The case highlights the intersection of immigration law, national security, and the protection of free speech for political activists.
A US immigration judge has ruled that Salah Sarsour, the Palestinian-born leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, can be deported on grounds that he poses a foreign policy threat, while rejecting allegations that he lied on his green card application.According to The Associated Press, Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Milwaukee in March. A federal judge ordered his release in June, saying he had raised a “substantial” claim that the Trump administration may have targeted him for speaking out against Israel and advocating for Palestinian rights.Sarsour said the latest ruling was “deeply disappointing” and that he plans 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,” he said.The US government has argued that Sarsour’s decades-old terrorism-related convictions in Israel make…
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