CHICAGO — President of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee Salah Sarsour is awaiting a decision on whether or not he can stay in the U.S. after his final hearing in immigration court on Monday.
Sarsour was arrested by Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents in April and has been fighting the order brought against him by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, based partially on decades-old convictions in Israeli military court.
Testimony on Sept. 14 wrapped up with a man who represented Sarsour in Israel in 1988 when he was convicted of throwing a Molotov cocktail and stones at Israeli army forces, then again in 1995 when Sarsour was convicted of attempting to hold weapons and ammunition. Jawad Boulos testified that Israel had no evidence against Sarsour and had instead coerced him to confess to the accusations through torture.
Sarsour’s defense team says the U.S. government has known about the charges in Israel for decades, and argues the timing of efforts to deport him is directly related to his pro-Palestinian advocacy.
“They’re clearly not deporting him for those [charges], those are pretexts,” defense attorney Patrick Taurel said after the final hearing. “The reason they arrested him and the reason we are here, is his speech.”
A federal judge ordered Sarsour’s release from ICE custody in June, citing a “substantial” claim that he was being targeted for his pro-Palestinian speech in violation of the First Amendment. Sarsour emigrated from Palestine in 1993 and has never been charged with a crime in the U.S.
A decision from the immigration judge in Chicago is expected by the end of September. Both sides are likely to appeal the decision.
