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Here to discuss the case is a member

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of Sarsour's legal team, Sam

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Cole, an attorney with the ACLU

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of Illinois, who is also a former

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immigration judge.

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Sam, thanks for joining us.

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Thanks for having me.

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You're familiar with the arguments

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raised by the Trump administration

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against Salah Sarsouh.

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The Secretary of State himself said

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that he posed an adverse consequence

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to foreign policy considerations.

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Were there grounds to arrest and

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detain him?

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No, absolutely not.

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Mr. Sarsour has been

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a upstanding person

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in the United States since he came

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here over 30 years ago.

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He is a grandfather of

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nine U.S.

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Citizen kids and

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has had absolutely no trouble in the

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U.N.

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The only reason he was arrested was

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because he's an outspoken

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advocate for Palestinian

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human rights.

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And that's why he's been targeted by

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this administration. And that is

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absolutely not.

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An appropriate and lawful reason

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to arrest someone.

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What were conditions like for Mr.

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Sarsour in jail?

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They were pretty bad.

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He lost 30 pounds during

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the time that he was there.

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He also has a medical problem.

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He's a type two diabetic, and his

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doctor required

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that he have daily glucose,

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blood glucose monitoring, and

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he was getting tested once a

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month.

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So that's not great, and that can

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really pose some serious risks to

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his health.

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Was there a chance he could have

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been deported?

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So the case is ongoing, right?

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So he has been released from

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detention based on

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our motion in front of

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a federal district court judge.

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So Mr. Sersour filed a petition for

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a writ of habeas corpus asking

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the federal judge to release him

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from the immigration detention.

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And the judge hasn't ruled

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on that habeas petition

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quite yet, but he did grant an

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interim release of Mr. Sirsour.

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While the court adjudicates

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the habeas petition, saying

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that he's made a strong showing that

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he might prevail in the habeast

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petition. But that doesn't mean the

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immigration case is over.

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So Mr. Sarsour is still fighting

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deportation in

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immigration court, and that's

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ongoing.

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You're a former immigration judge

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yourself. You've said this case is

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highly unusual.

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You've never seen anything like it.

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How much of the case is outside the

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bounds of what you'd normally see?

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I was an immigration judge in the

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Chicago immigration court for

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nine years, and I

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handled actually a detained

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docket, that's a docket of

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individuals who are in immigration

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custody.

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So very similar to the situation

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that Mr. Sarsour was in.

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And Mr.Sarsour's case is in fact in

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the chicago immigration court.

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And I can tell you for one, I have

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never seen anything like this

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at all. The, first

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of all, the primary

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charge against them.

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Is, as you noted, that letter

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from Secretary of State

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Marco Rubio saying

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that Mr.

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Sarsour's really lawful activity

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in the United States poses a

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foreign policy risk to the United

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States. Now, that is

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highly unusual and

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highly legally dubious.

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But the other thing that is

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extraordinary about this case is,

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although the case is

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assigned to the Chicago immigration

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court.

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The judge that was assigned

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to hear the case is not

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a Chicago immigration court judge.

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It's actually a very

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senior level management judge

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in the executive

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office for immigration review.

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It's an acting regional

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deputy chief immigration judge.

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It's essentially the second in

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command of all the judges

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in the entire immigration court

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system. So that case was plucked

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out of the Chicago immigration Court

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judges and.

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Specifically assigned to this one

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management judge.

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I've never seen that happen.

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So I gather you feel like you have a

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strong First Amendment case

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here that his rights, your client's

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rights, were violated.

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Can you explain that?

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Absolutely.

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Mr. Sarsour,

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as a longtime permanent resident of

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the United States, has the same

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First Amendment rights to speak

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and to engage in

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political activity and political

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activism that essentially

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you and I do as citizens of

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the U.S.

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And so what's really happening

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is the government is

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targeting him because they

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don't like his speech.

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And that is highly

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problematic.

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It violates

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the Constitution,

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the First Amendment, and

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we're very concerned

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to see these

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charges against him by the

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administration.

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So you mentioned this, that this

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case is not over.

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You have hearings coming up.

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How does this proceed?

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What happens next?

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So there's another

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hearing coming up at the

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end of July,

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July 22nd, in

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the immigration court,

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where the government has

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the burden of proof in this case.

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They have to prove the

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charges that

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they have made against

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them. And aside

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from the charges based on

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the Marco Rubio determination about

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foreign policy There's some other

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charges that relate to things that

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happened decades and decades ago,

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things the government has known

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about for a very long time.

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And, you know, we are,

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we will fight these charges.

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We are, he has very

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good defenses and we are fighting

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them in immigration court.

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And if we lose immigration court,

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we'll continue our fight all

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the way up as far as it takes.

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Because everyone knows what's going

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on here. It's not about anything

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that happened in decades ago.

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It's about what he's doing now, his

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speech. And that's why he's being

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targeted.

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All right, we'll be watching the

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case. Sam Cole, thank you so much

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for joining us.

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Thank you.

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Yes?

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It's not surprising to me

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that this case has gotten

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international attention because

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it is just part of a pattern by

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the Trump administration to target

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people they don't like, right?

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They do what they can to

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target individuals who are

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saying things that they're

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not happy with.

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And so for Mr. Sarsour,

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he's one of many Palestinian

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rights activists who

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have been targeted by this

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administration.

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Mr. Sarsour has gotten a tremendous

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amount of support from his

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community. He is really he is he is

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a community leader He's the

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president of his mosque, which

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is the largest mosque in Wisconsin

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He is beloved by

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many many people whether they're

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Muslim or Jews or Christians.

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So he has a very

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big support network because

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of who he is and

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Unfortunately, it doesn't

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mean just because you have a large

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support network doesn't mean that

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this administration isn't going to

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specifically go after you because

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of your speech, and that's what's

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happening.

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Yeah, thank you.