Salah Sarsour: Immigration judge rules Wisconsin mosque leader can be deported

The situation

An immigration judge officially ruled on Wednesday that Salah Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, is eligible for deportation. This move comes after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pushed hard on the case, arguing that Sarsour’s presence in the U.S. creates "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."

How we got here

This drama has been building for a while. Back in June 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked federal immigration law to signal that Sarsour, a Jordanian national and lawful permanent resident, needed to go. The government’s case rests on claims that he has engaged in or supported terrorist activity.

Prosecutors point to convictions from decades ago in Israel—specifically for throwing rocks at military personnel and attempting to source weapons—as evidence he is a national security risk. They’ve also brought up a 2001 FBI memo that mentioned allegations from his brother regarding fundraising for the Holy Land Foundation on behalf of Hamas. While the government claimed he was involved in throwing a Molotov cocktail, Sarsour’s legal team has pushed back, noting he was never actually convicted of that specific charge.

The sides

It’s giving a major ideological clash. The DHS is doubling down, with a spokesperson stating, "Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences."

Sarsour, on the other hand, is lowkey claiming he’s being targeted for his political stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict. He’s lived in the U.S. for 30 years and argues that the timing of this push is suspicious. He also maintains that previous confessions he made to Israeli authorities were the result of torture. In a statement, Sarsour said, "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."

Why it matters

Sarsour has already vowed to appeal the ruling, so this legal battle is far from over. It’s a high-stakes look at how the current administration is flexing its executive power regarding immigration and national security, making it a W for the administration’s current legal strategy, while the actual outcome for the community leader remains up in the air.