CHICAGO — 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 says he fears for his life if he is deported to the West Bank
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.
Sarsour does not have a criminal record in the U.S., where he has lived since 1993. His attorneys say the U.S. government has known about Sarsour’s convictions in Israel since he arrived. He is president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee.
Being sent back to the West Bank, “means the end of my life,” Sarsour told The Associated Press in a Tuesday interview.
One of his attorneys, Patrick Taurel, told the AP that Sarsour’s earlier treatment by Israeli authorities is “probably a good indicator of what awaits him” if he is deported.
Attorney says Sarsour will fight deportation
Taurel said on Wednesday that Sarsour is being unfairly targeted.
“If Salah can be deported for his speech in support of Palestinian rights, anyone can face the same fate,” Taurel said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a rare memo in June 2025 saying Sarsour could be deported on the same grounds as Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, both advocates for Palestinian rights whom the Trump administration has tried to expel, according to court documents.
Before the judge’s ruling, Taurel said Sarsour would fight his removal and would likely need to demonstrate that he would face torture by Israel if he were deported.
“It’s a very high bar, although I think we can meet it in this case, given what Salah has already experienced, and given the government of Israel’s treatment of people similarly situated” to him,” Taurel said.
Sarsour is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a status conference.
Sarsour says he was tortured and coerced into confessions
Jawad Boulos, who represented Sarsour when he was convicted in Israel, testified in August that Sarsour was coerced into confessing and that he wasn’t convicted of any charge tying him to a terrorist organization.
Sarsour’s brother, Mohammad Sarsour, testified in July that his brother appeared dirty and in bad physical condition, had lost significant weight and complained of pain when he appeared in an Israeli courtroom. Boulos also testified that Sarsour was tortured while in the custody of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency. The Department of Homeland Security questioned Boulos about the torture allegations, questioning how he could know it was true.
Sarsour’s current defense team has asked why U.S. authorities waited until this year to detain him. Taurel said the government has known about Sarsour’s time behind bars in Israel for decades and that Sarsour never concealed that information from U.S. immigration authorities.
Experts on forced confessions and the treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons also testified in Sarsour's defense. Israeli military courts have faced repeated scrutiny over allegations of limited due process and the high conviction rate of Palestinians. Israel rejects the claims.
In June, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon ordered Sarsour released from custody pending his immigration case. Hanlon found Sarsour could have a case arguing the U.S. government was retaliating in violation of his free speech rights and that attorneys for ICE and DHS had not explained why Sarsour was suddenly considered a threat after decades of legal residency.
The Trump administration has appealed Hanlon’s decision to release Sarsour from ICE detention.
Sarsour, who has Type 2 diabetes, lost more than 30 pounds (14 kilograms) while detained by ICE, and his blood sugar levels were checked only once a month, putting him at risk of organ failure or death, his attorneys said.
An investigation by KFF Health News and The Associated Press found that hundreds of detainees in at least 33 states have filed federal lawsuits with similar allegations of medical neglect.
Sarsour is among several people who have been arrested in the U.S. and threatened with deportation after speaking out in favor of Palestinians since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
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Mayes-Osterman is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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