Palestinian Community Leader Salah Sarsour Continues to Face Accelerated Deportation Proceedings in Immigration Court

July 29, 2026 — Chicago, Illinois — In Chicago Immigration Court today, Salah Sarsour, a legal, permanent resident and a Palestinian and Muslim community leader from Wisconsin, appeared again before an immigration judge as part of the Trump administration's attempt to remove Mr. Sarsour from the place he’s called home for more than 32 years.

Among the five witnesses are Bonita Cho, an immigration attorney, and Amahl Bishara, Associate Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department at Tufts University.

• Cho testified that Mr. Sarsour has consistently maintained that his Israeli military court convictions are the result of false confessions secured through torture and that Mr. Sarsour has consistently denied ever purposefully registering to vote.
• Bishara’s testimony illuminated how stone throwing by Palestinian children is often a form of expression in response to the illegal military occupation by Israel and not a form of violent resistance.

Mr. Sarsour shared: “This immigration proceeding has made it clear that I am being unfairly targeted by this administration for my advocacy on Palestinian human rights. I put my trust in God and my legal team to navigate this attack on me and the life I have built in America, and that I can continue to be with my family in Wisconsin as I have for the past three decades.”

Sarsour’s lead immigration court counsel Patrick Taurel said: “It is an outrage that we are here at all. There can be no doubt that the Trump Administration is seeking to stifle pro-Palestine speech. Mr. Sarsour has been subjected to this traumatizing experience simply because they disfavor his speech. Worst of all, he now risks separation from his kids, grandkids, and everything he holds dear, all because he has been resolute in continuing to speak up about injustices being committed against Palestinians.”

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Salah Sarsour is represented by Grossman Young & Hammond, the ACLU of Illinois, and Beldock Levine & Hoffman. His larger legal team includes the Muslim Legal Fund of America as co-counsel.