NJ's most visible Muslim cleric facing deportation
by Brian Donohue/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday May 06, 2008, 10:00 PM
In 2005, the New Jersey Senate tapped Qatanani to be the first Muslim to lead the opening prayer for a voting session, praising him as a voice of moderation and tolerance.
And for years, Jewish and Christian clergy have called on Qatanani to speak at programs promoting interfaith dialogue.
But 12 years after he arrived from the West Bank, Qatanani's days as the state's most visible Muslim cleric may be ending.
Qatanani, his wife and three children are facing deportation for his alleged failure to disclose on his green card application a 1993 arrest by Israeli authorities. Israeli military officials told the Associated Press he confessed to being a member of Hamas, a known terrorist organization. Qatanani denies the charge.
Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will begin presenting the case before an immigration judge in Newark on Thursday.
Qatanani's case will be decided by Judge Alberto J. Riefkohl of the Executive Office of Immigration Review, an administrative court system within the U.S. Department of Justice.
The hearing is expected to last three days. Riefkohl can issue an order of deportation or grant either legal permanent residency or a green card to the imam, his wife and three foreign-born children. The couple also have three children who are U.S. citizens.
Read the full story in Wednesday's Star-Ledger.
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