BREAKING: Salah Sarsour to seek relief from removal as legal case continues

Despite Overwhelming Evidence, Immigration Judge Rules in Favor of Deporting Palestinian Advocate Salah Sarsour

Today, in a setback for free speech rights, an immigration judge ruled that Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian and Muslim community leader from Milwaukee, is deportable under a widely decried provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act. He will now seek relief from removal as his case continues.

A lawful permanent resident of the United States for more than three decades, Sarsour was held for more than 81 days in ICE custody for his speech in support of Palestinian rights. He was released last June after a federal judge ruled that his detention risked violating his free speech rights. Sarsour is the president of the largest mosque in Wisconsin, a father to six U.S. citizens and the grandfather of ten grandchildren. He is an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, and his targeting represents an escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on organizations and advocates speaking in support of Palestine.

Today, the immigration judge decided:

• To reject charges suggesting Sarsour was ever untruthful in obtaining his green card or that he ever claimed to be a citizen of the United States to vote in U.S. elections;
• To uphold the charge that Sarsour is removable based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assertion that his pro-Palestine speech harms U.S. foreign policy;
• To defer to incomplete and selective Israeli court records provided to DHS by the Israeli government, including documents obtained under torture, regarding the remaining allegations.

This decision comes despite the overwhelming evidence presented in immigration court vindicating Sarsour and his spotless record in the United States. During the four immigration court hearings to date, Sarsour’s counsel and witnesses demonstrated that the allegations against him rely on coerced confessions and incomplete records from Israeli military courts. The evidence also raised broader concerns about possible coordination between the Trump administration, the Israeli government, and private foreign groups in targeting Sarsour.

We will continue fighting this McCarthyist attack on our freedoms, both in Salah's case and in the many other cases targeting pro-Palestine activism. This case shows clear, unprecedented deference to a foreign government in our own immigration courts, undermining due process.

“While today’s decision is deeply disappointing, I will not give up. 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,” said Salah Sarsour. “I am proud to stand alongside communities of different faiths and backgrounds in defending a vision of America where everyone can speak out against injustice without fear of government retaliation. In my case, all evidence was thrown aside, and instead, a foreign country’s false information and unjust military courts were used to trample on my rights and ignore the truth. But this fight is bigger than me, and I will not stop standing up for what’s right and for justice in Palestine.”

The immigration court’s upholding of the rarely-used McCarthy era provision of the INA directly contradicts what numerous federal courts have found: the targeting of Palestinian advocates on the basis of their speech violates their First Amendment rights.  

Patrick Taurel, Sarsour’s lead immigration attorney, added: “We will appeal this decision. The evidence presented at trial compels only one conclusion: that Salah is not deportable on any of the grounds alleged by ICE and that Salah should be able to keep his green card. Let’s take a step back: we are here, fighting for Salah’s right to remain with his family in his beloved adopted home of Wisconsin, because of Salah’s speech. That’s why ICE targeted him. If Salah can be deported for his speech in support of Palestinian rights, anyone can face the same fate.”