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An immigration judge ruled Wednesday that federal authorities can deport the leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque on national security grounds.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked federal immigration law in June 2025 to determine that Salah Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, could be deported because his presence in the United States could have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences. Government lawyers cited Sarsour’s decades-old convictions in Israel, including for throwing rocks at Israeli military personnel and attempting to procure weapons, in arguing that he posed a national security threat.
Government lawyers also claimed he had been convicted of throwing a Molotov cocktail at IDF personnel, though Sarsour’s lawyer rebuffed that allegation by stating that, though he was accused of doing so, he was never convicted.
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Islamic Society of Milwaukee President Salah Sarsour smiles, Thursday, June 18, 2026, shortly after his release from a county jail in Indiana, where he was detained after his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in March. (Yaseen Najeeb via AP)
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Rubio had “reasonable grounds to believe Sarsour’s presence would have adverse foreign policy consequences for the U.S., and he has engaged in terrorist activity or supported a terrorist organization.”
A 2001 FBI memorandum summarized allegations from Sarsour’s brother, Jamil, that he had been involved in fundraising for the Holy Land Foundation, an organization shuttered by the federal government for terror ties, on behalf of Hamas. Jewish Insider, meanwhile, reported that Sarsour wrote a Facebook post asking God to “give Gaza people victory,” while acknowledging in a deposition that additional language in the post could be translated as asking God to punish those who wished harm on Gaza.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), conducted a targeted operation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to arrest Salah Salem Sarsour, a criminal illegal alien from Jordan suspected of funding terror organizations and lying on immigration forms. (The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS))
“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.,” the DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, adding that “illegal aliens receive due process.”
Sarsour, who is a lawful permanent resident according to court documents, and his lawyers claim that he is being targeted by the Trump administration for political reasons, namely his advocacy related to the Israel-Gaza conflict. He also claims that he was tortured into providing a confession by Israeli authorities.
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(REUTERS/Eric Thayer) (REUTERS/Eric Thayer)
Sarsour’s lawyers also point out that he has been residing in the country for 30 years, questioning why the government waited so long to seek his removal if he was a threat to national security.
Sarsour has pledged to appeal the judge’s ruling that he can be deported.
“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,” he said in a statement following the judge’s ruling.
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Lawyers for Sarsour did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.