(RNS) — A federal immigration judge ruled to deport Marwan Marouf, a Dallas Muslim community leader arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in late September. The 54-year-old, who has lived in the U.S. for 30 years, could be deported to Jordan within the next two weeks, the prosecutor told the court on Thursday (Nov. 20).
Marouf, who is being held at the Bluebonnet detention center in Anson, Texas, appeared at the virtual hearing without testifying out of concerns for his health, his lawyers said.
Born in Kuwait, Marouf is a Jordanian citizen of Palestinian heritage. He was arrested on his way to work by ICE agents on Sept. 22, after his green card was denied over past donations to the Holy Land Foundation, a defunct Muslim charity whose leaders were convicted of having ties with Hamas. It closed in 2001.
During the final hearing, immigration Judge Abdias Tida denied Marouf’s request for a voluntary departure, which would have let him leave the country on his own terms and have more options to return to the U.S. legally.
Marouf won’t appeal the decision, his lawyer, Marium Uddin, legal director of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, told the court. He accepted he would have to leave the U.S., which was the fruit of prayer and a long spiritual reflection, she said.
He accepted the decision “not as an acknowledgment of any wrongdoing but as a decision born of impossible circumstances imposed by a system that has failed him at every turn,” Uddin wrote in an emailed statement to Religion News Service. “It is easy to say Marwan has lost America. But the truth cuts the other way: America has lost Marwan, and in doing so, has lost a piece of its own promise.”
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, which supervises ICE, confirmed Marouf was denied a green card because of his involvement with the Holy Land Foundation.
“A green card is a privilege, not a right,” McLaughlin’s email statement said. “If you are pushing Hamas propaganda, supporting terrorist organizations, and conducting other anti-American actions, you will face consequences.”
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The removal order could prevent him from entering the country for up to 10 years and make him ineligible for certain immigration benefits, according to a U.S. Department of Justice tip sheet. Voluntary departures are granted at the judge’s discretion to detainees who have the intention and means to leave the country and demonstrate they are a “good person,” according to the tip sheet.
His lawyers argued the government’s decision to consider his involvement with HLF more than 20 years ago material support for terrorism sets “a dangerous precedent, opening the floodgates to punish entire communities for lawful, good-faith humanitarian activity.”
FILE – People speak in front of a “Bring Marwan Home” banner, created by his relatives, during a press conference outside Richardson City Hall, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Richardson, Texas. (Video screen grab)
His 27-year-old son, Mohammed Marouf, who also lives in Dallas, previously told RNS the arrest “came out of nowhere.”
Marouf, who arrived in the country 30 years ago on a student visa, is a longtime member of the Muslim American Society Dallas chapter. In the 1990s, Marouf donated nearly $14,000 to HLF in accordance with the Islamic obligatory practice of zakat, or charitable giving. He also volunteered for the organization, according to MLFA.
In 2001, the Bush administration designated HLF a “terrorist organization” and froze its assets, saying it sent money to Palestinian zakat committees run by Hamas. Zakat committees are local groups that collect and distribute donations made by faithful.
In 2008, five HLF leaders were convicted to prison sentences between 15 and 65 years, following a trial some nonprofit watchdogs argued was politically charged and violated constitutional norms.