An immigration judge ruled Wednesday that the United States can deport the Palestinian-born leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque on the grounds that he poses a foreign policy threat.
Salah Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, was arrested in March by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at his Milwaukee home.
Immigration Judge Jayme Salinardi found Wednesday that Sarsour is removable based on a 2025 determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that his presence would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences. Salinardi dismissed a separate allegation that Sarsour willfully misrepresented his past on immigration forms.
Sarsour, who has lived in the United States since 1993 and called the decision “deeply disappointing” in a statement that promised an 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 Department of Homeland Security has cited two Israeli military court convictions from the late 1980s and mid-1990s. Sarsour was imprisoned in 1988 after confessing to throwing a Molotov cocktail and stones at Israeli military personnel and was convicted in 1995 of attempting to possess weapons and ammunition.
His attorneys have argued that U.S. authorities have known about the Israeli cases for decades and that the sudden enforcement action is retaliation for Sarsour’s anti-Israel rhetoric. A federal judge ordered Sarsour released from ICE detention in June after finding he had raised a substantial First Amendment claim.
Sarsour has said he fears for his life if returned to the West Bank. He is expected to seek relief from removal, including arguments that he would face persecution or torture if deported. Wednesday’s ruling does not mean I’ve will be deported immediately, as further proceedings and appeals are expected.
