US can expel head of Wisconsin’s largest mosque over national security concerns, judge rules

CHICAGO — The United States can deport the leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque — a staunch defender of Palestinian rights — on the grounds that he poses a threat to national security, an immigration judge ruled Wednesday.

Salah Sarsour was arrested in Milwaukee in March by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A federal judge ordered Sarsour’s release in June, saying he made a “substantial” claim that the Trump administration targeted him for speaking out against Israel and defending Palestinian rights.

Sarsour called the decision “deeply disappointing” but said he intended to appeal.

“I will continue to fight to defend the right to freedom of expression and to remain in the country I have called home for more than three decades,” Sarsour said in a statement.

Government lawyers say Sarsour’s decades-old convictions in Israel make him a threat to national security and accuse him of lying on his green card application and falsely claiming citizenship to vote. Judge Jayme Salinardi of the Chicago Immigration Court declared it dismissible on foreign policy grounds but rejected the government’s claim that Sarsour lied to immigration authorities.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to an emailed request for comment on the decision.

Sarsour says his life will be in danger if deported to the West Bank

Sarsour, born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was imprisoned in Israel in 1988 after being convicted of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. DHS said he was also convicted of throwing a Molotov cocktail. His defense team says he was accused of this but was not found guilty. In 1995, he was convicted of attempted weapons possession. Sarsour denies committing the crimes and his lawyers say he was tortured and forced to confess in both cases.

Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, has no criminal record in the United States, where he has lived since 1993. His lawyers say the government has known about Sarsour’s convictions in Israel since his arrival.

The expulsion to the West Bank “means the end of my life,” Sarsour told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

One of his lawyers, Patrick Taurel, said Sarsour’s treatment by Israeli authorities is “probably a good indicator of what awaits him” if he is deported.

At a status hearing Wednesday, Taurel pressed the judge to clarify that Sarsour can only be deported to Israel or the Palestinian territories. Jordan, a country to which Sarsour has no ties, is listed as a possible destination on the deportation order.

Sarsour was instructed by immigration officials to list Jordan as his country of origin on an immigration form because his country of choice – “Palestine” – is not a fully independent and unified state. But he “does not have the right to reside in Jordan,” Taurel said.

Salinardi declined, saying that issue could be resolved on appeal.

If sent to Jordan, Sarsour “would be immediately handed over to Israel,” Taurel said at a news conference Wednesday.

Lawyer says Sarsour will oppose eviction

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a memo in June 2025 invoking a rarely used immigration provision, saying Sarsour could be deported on the same grounds as Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, both Palestinian rights advocates whom the Trump administration tried to deport, according to court documents.

Salinardi ruled that Rubio’s letter designating Sarsour as a foreign policy risk was “presumptive and sufficient evidence” that the government can remove him, Taurel said Wednesday, reading the judge’s ruling. The judge showed “extreme deference” to Rubio and to Israel, which “collaborated” with DHS in the effort to deport Sarsour, the lawyer said.

Taurel said Sarsour will have to demonstrate that he could be tortured again if deported, calling that a “very high bar” that he said his team “can meet in this case.”

A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days and Sarsour has 60 days to file a request for relief. The government cannot deport Sarsour until it has exhausted all available legal avenues. Salinardi, who has not scheduled a new hearing, announced that he was retiring and that Judge Craig Defoe would oversee the case going forward.

Sarsour claims to have been tortured and forced to confess

Jawad Boulos, who represented Sarsour at his sentencing in Israel, said in August that Sarsour had been coerced into confessing and had not been convicted of any charges linking him to a terrorist organization. He said Sarsour was tortured by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency.

The Department of Homeland Security challenged Boulos over the torture allegations, questioning how he could know it was true.

Sarsour’s defense team has repeatedly questioned why the government waited until this year to arrest him, saying it has known about his imprisonment in Israel for decades.

Experts on forced confessions and the treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails also testified in Sarsour’s defense. Israeli military courts have come under repeated scrutiny over allegations of limited due process and the high rate of convictions of Palestinians. Israel rejects these claims.

In June, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon ordered Sarsour released from ICE custody, saying he may have a case arguing the government detained him in retaliation for protected free speech. Additionally, Hanlon said, government lawyers did not explain why Sarsour was suddenly considered a threat after decades as a legal permanent resident.

The Trump administration appealed Hanlon’s decision.

Sarsour, who suffers from Type 2 diabetes, lost more than 30 pounds while in ICE detention, and his blood sugar levels were only checked once a month, putting him at risk of organ failure or death, his lawyers said.

An investigation by KFF Health News and the Associated Press found that hundreds of inmates in at least 33 states have filed federal lawsuits with similar allegations of medical negligence.