Court Hears Witness Testimony on Forced Confessions in Deportation Case
CHICAGO — Israeli authorities coerced the leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque into confessing to crimes but never linked him to a terrorist organization, his former attorney testified Tuesday in immigration court, where the Palestinian man is fighting deportation.
Salah Sarsour, a legal permanent US resident, was arrested by ICE at his Milwaukee home in late March. A judge released him in June, finding the government had not sufficiently justified its effort to expel him after decades in the country.
Jawad Boulos, who represented Sarsour in Israel decades ago, testified that his client was tortured and forced into confessions. He said Sarsour was convicted of attempting to possess a weapon but not of any charge tying him to a terrorist organization. Boulos said Sarsour accepted a plea deal in the mid-1990s because fighting the charge could have meant a longer prison sentence.
The Department of Homeland Security seeks to deport Sarsour as a foreign policy threat, based on his Israeli convictions. Sarsour, who has no US criminal record, says he is being punished for speaking out against Israel.
On the first day of hearings, Sarsour’s brother testified that he appeared gaunt and dirty during his Israeli detention. Human rights organizations have documented allegations of mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Sarsour is among several people arrested and threatened with deportation after speaking in favor of Palestinians since the October 2023 war began. His next hearing is scheduled for September 14.
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