Immigration judge allows use of Cold War-era law to deport Wisconsin mosque leader

An immigration judge has ruled that Salah Sarsour, president of Wisconsin's largest mosque, can be deported under a controversial law dating to the Cold War era, a statute the Trump administration has increasingly sought to use against foreign nationals who have spoken out in support of Palestinian rights.

Sarsour, who has held permanent resident status in the United States for nearly three decades, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March. He was later released after a federal judge found that he had probably been detained in retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinian rights, a finding the judge said would make his detention unlawful.

According to reporting on the case, the administration turned to the older law after an earlier track in its effort to remove Sarsour ran into difficulty, pursuing the immigration case aggressively once other options were exhausted.

The ruling adds Sarsour to a small number of cases in which the administration has invoked older immigration statutes against people known for pro-Palestinian activism, a strategy that has drawn scrutiny from civil liberties advocates who argue it is being used to target protected speech.

It remains to be seen whether Sarsour will appeal the immigration judge's decision. His case is likely to remain closely watched as a test of how far the administration can extend decades-old legal authority against critics of its Middle East policy.