US immigration judge allows cold war-era law to deport Wisconsin mosque’s president

The U.S. government may deport the Palestinian-born leader of Wisconsin's largest mosque based on his status as a foreign policy threat, according to an immigration judge's ruling on Wednesday. The judge dismissed claims that the individual, Salah Sarsour, lied on his green card application, while agreeing with the government's assertion that his terrorism convictions in Israel render him a security risk in the U.S. Sarsour, who has lived in the U.S. for three decades, was detained in Milwaukee in March and released in June by a federal judge, who acknowledged his substantial claim of being targeted for speaking out against Israel and advocating for Palestinian rights.

Sarsour, born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was previously imprisoned in Israel for Molotov cocktail and stone-throwing incidents against military personnel in 1988 and for attempting to hold weapons and ammunition in 1995. His attorneys argue that he was tortured and coerced into confessing in both cases. If deported, Sarsour would face life in the West Bank, according to him, and his earlier treatment by Israeli authorities could foreshadow similar consequences.