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// DOSSIER — us-immigration-judge-rules-palestinian-leader-sarsour-deportation
US Immigration Judge Rules Wisconsin Palestinian Leader Salah Sarsour Can Be Deported
REL_TIME: 03 Oct 2026 12:12Z · LANG: EN
On September 30, 2026, Immigration Judge Jayme Salinardi ruled that Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and a prominent Palestinian community leader, is removable from the United States on foreign policy grounds. The decision follows a 2025 memorandum from Secretary of State Marco Rubio designating Sarsour a national security threat under Section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. While the judge upheld the foreign policy removability, she dismissed government allegations that Sarsour had falsified his green card application 33 years ago. Sarsour, who has no U.S. criminal record, remains free pending appeal due to a prior federal court order, but faces a future trial to determine if deportation to the West Bank would violate international protections against torture.
// Background
Salah Sarsour was born in the West Bank and moved to the U.S. in 1993. He was imprisoned in Israel between 1988 and 1995 on charges including throwing a Molotov cocktail, which he denies. The U.S. government's current case utilizes Section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a provision that allows the Secretary of State to deport non-citizens if their presence would have 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.' This provision was recently invoked against other Palestinian activists, including Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi.
// Key Developments
- Judge Jayme Salinardi ruled Sarsour deportable based on 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences' following a certification by the Secretary of State.
- The court dismissed separate claims by federal prosecutors that Sarsour lied on his permanent residency application in the 1990s.
- Sarsour has resided in the U.S. for 33 years, is a business owner, and serves as president of Wisconsin's largest mosque.
- The defense maintains the case is a retaliatory effort by the Trump administration to suppress pro-Palestinian advocacy.
- Legal arguments center on Sarsour's decades-old convictions in Israeli military courts, which his team claims were based on confessions obtained through torture.
- Sarsour remains out of custody due to a June 2026 federal court order that found he raised substantial claims of First Amendment retaliation.
// Timeline
-
Sarsour serves time in Israeli prisons; defense claims confessions were coerced through torture by Shin Bet.
-
Sarsour arrives in the United States, eventually becoming a legal permanent resident.
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Sarsour is arrested by ICE agents in Milwaukee and held in an Indiana detention center.
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A federal judge orders Sarsour's release from ICE custody while his deportation case proceeds.
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Judge Jayme Salinardi rules Sarsour is deportable on foreign policy grounds but rejects claims of application fraud.
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Expected trial date for Sarsour's application for relief under the Convention Against Torture.
// Perspectives
[Trump Administration / DHS]
Argues that Sarsour's presence poses a national security and foreign policy threat due to past convictions in Israel for alleged terrorist activity.
[Salah Sarsour and Legal Team]
Contends the deportation is a politically motivated attempt to silence critics of Israeli policy, relying on unreliable evidence from foreign military courts.
[Free Salah Sarsour Advocacy Campaign]
Views the ruling as a dangerous precedent that weaponizes immigration law against dissent and calls for a congressional inquiry into U.S.-Israeli collaboration.
// Quotes
“If Salah can be deported for his speech in support of Palestinian rights, anyone can face the same fate.”
“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.”
“The immigration judge gave extreme deference to Secretary of State Rubio’s determination that Salah was deportable under this provision.”
