Immigration judge rules US can deport president of Wisconsin's largest mosque

An immigration judge ruled that the US government can deport Palestinian American Salah Sarsour, who is the president of Wisconsin's largest mosque and a US permanent resident, under a Cold War-era law.



Sarsour, who grew up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in late March and released in mid-June after a federal judge said he had raised a substantial free speech retaliation claim that would render his detention unlawful.



Chicago Immigration Court Judge Jayme Salinardi sided late on Tuesday with the government's argument that Sarsour posed a security and foreign policy threat under the Cold War-era Immigration and Nationality Act, while rejecting the government's allegation that he lied on his green card application.



The US Department of Homeland Security welcomed the ruling, saying the judge "sustained multiple grounds of removability" in the case.



Sarsour said his legal team will appeal the ruling, which he called "deeply disappointing."