CHICAGO — A former attorney has testified that the United States is wrongfully relying on Israeli “convictions” several decades ago in ongoing its efforts to deport Salah Sarsour, the leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque.Jawad Boulos represented Sarsour in Israeli military court in the 1990s.Israeli authorities coerced Sarsour into confessing to crimes but never succeeded in tying him to a terrorist organization, Boulos testified on Tuesday in immigration court, where the Palestinian is fighting a Trump administration effort to deport him.Sarsour, a legal permanent resident of the United States, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at his Milwaukee home in late March. A judge released him from ICE detention in June, finding that the government had not sufficiently laid out why it was trying to expel him now after allowing him to live in the US for decades.The Department of Homeland Security says it wants to deport Sarsour on the grounds that he is a foreign policy threat, based on his convictions in Israel in the 1980s and 1990s. Sarsour, who has no criminal record in the US, has said he is being punished for speaking out against Israel.It was Sarsour’s third appearance in Chicago immigration court since his release from detention. One of his attorneys, Patrick Taurel, presented a witness Tuesday to underscore his argument that the Israeli convictions do not stand up to scrutiny.Boulos told the court Sarsour was tortured in Israeli custody and coerced into making confessions, adding that he accepted a plea deal in the mid-1990’s because fighting the charge could lead to a longer sentence behind bars.Boulos said he was not allowed to meet with Sarsour for a period of time while he was detained. He also said his former client was convicted of attempting to possess a weapon, but not of any charge tying him to a terrorist organization.Human rights organizations have released multiple reports alleging Palestinian prisoners are mistreated, tortured and wrongfully detained in Israeli jails.On the first day of the hearing, July 22, Sarsour’s brother, Mohammad Sarsour, testified that his brother appeared gaunt and dirty and complained of pain during his detention in Israeli jail.The cross-examination of Boulos by Department of Homeland Security attorneys will take place on Sept. 14. Sarsour will appear remotely, but Taurel said his client will not testify.Sarsour is among several people who have been arrested in the US and threatened with deportation after speaking out in favor of Palestinians since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
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