CHICAGO — The U.S. can deport the leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque — an outspoken advocate of Palestinian rights — on the grounds that he is a threat to national security, an immigration judge ruled Wednesday.
Salinardi, who did not schedule a new hearing, announced he is retiring and that Judge Craig Defoe will oversee the case going forward. Salah Sarsour was detained in Milwaukee in March by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The government cannot deport Sarsour until he has exhausted all available legal avenues.
A notice of appeal is due within 30 days, and Sarsour has 60 days to file an application for relief.
A federal judge ordered Sarsour’s release in June , saying he raised a “substantial” claim that the Trump administration was targeting him for speaking out against Israel and advocating for Palestinian rights. Sarsour called the ruling “deeply disappointing,” but said he intends to appeal.
District Judge James Patrick Hanlon ordered Sarsour released from ICE custody saying he could have a case arguing the U.S. government detained him in retaliation for protected speech. Government attorneys say Sarsour’s decades-old convictions in Israel make him a threat to national security and accuse him of lying on his green card application and falsely claiming citizenship to vote. Judge Jayme Salinardi, with the Chicago Immigration Court, found him removable on foreign policy grounds but tossed out the government’s claim that Sarsour lied to immigration authorities. His attorneys say the U.S. government has known about Sarsour’s convictions in Israel since he arrived. In June, U.S.
Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, does not have a criminal record in the U.S., where he has lived since 1993. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a memo in June 2025 invoking a rarely used immigration provision saying Sarsour could be deported on the same grounds as Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi , both advocates for Palestinian rights whom the Trump administration has tried to expel, according to court documents.
Salinardi found Rubio’s letter singling out Sarsour as a foreign policy risk was “presumptive and sufficient evidence” that the government can remove him, Taurel said Wednesday, reading from the judge’s decision. The judge gave “extreme deference” to Rubio and to Israel, which has “collaborated” with DHS in the effort to deport Sarsour, the attorney said. Further, Hanlon said, government attorneys had not explained why Sarsour was suddenly considered a threat after decades as a lawful permanent resident.
