In Chicago immigration court on September 30, Judge Teresa Livingston ruled that Imam Khaled Sarsour, longtime leader of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, may be deported because DHS classified him a national-security threat. The decision comes despite a federal judge’s June ruling that Sarsour plausibly showed he was targeted for his advocacy of Palestinian rights. The rare security-based removal raises flags for global companies sponsoring religious-worker (R-1) visas or community-outreach staff. DHS argued that Sarsour’s overseas fundraising trips created “foreign coordination risks,” language mobility attorneys say could be applied broadly to nonprofit executives or diversity-equity-and-inclusion (DEI) officers who engage in foreign policy discourse. If upheld on appeal, the case could embolden DHS to scrutinize political speech when adjudicating visa renewals. Employers should therefore document the bona fide business purpose of international travel and maintain detailed itineraries; failure to do so could invite admissibility questions under INA §212(a)(3)(B). Sarsour plans to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and seek a stay in the Seventh Circuit. Meanwhile, community leaders warn the removal could chill civic engagement by foreign workers in the Midwest tech corridor. Global mobility managers may wish to brief foreign assignees on permissible political activities and remind them that certain online statements can be construed as “affiliation” under security-ground inadmissibility rules.
Source: Associated Press
