❓WHAT HAPPENED: A Dallas Muslim leader is set to be deported following a ruling that he provided “material support” to the Holy Land Foundation.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Marwan Marouf, a Jordanian national and former director at the Muslim-American Society’s DFW chapter.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The ruling was made last Thursday by an immigration judge.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Material support to terrorism” was cited by the judge as grounds for denying voluntary departure.
🎯IMPACT: Marouf will be deported to Jordan within the next two weeks under ICE supervision.
Marwan Marouf, a 54-year-old Jordanian national, is facing deportation after an immigration judge determined he provided “material support” to the Holy Land Foundation. Marouf has been living in the U.S. for nearly three decades and held a prominent role as the public relations and fundraising director for the Muslim-American Society’s Dallas-Forth Worth chapter.
Since September, Marouf has been in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). His arrest was based on allegations, including the lack of a valid entry document and soliciting funds for a Tier III undesignated terrorist organization.
The Department of Homeland Security later added charges, asserting Marouf had solicited funds for the Holy Land Foundation, a charity previously identified by federal prosecutors as part of a U.S. support network for Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. The charity was shut down in 2001, and several of its leaders were convicted in 2008.
During a recent hearing, Immigration Judge Abdias E. Tida denied Marouf’s request for voluntary departure, citing his alleged donations to the foundation. Despite arguments from Marouf’s attorneys regarding his urgent cardiac condition, the request was not granted.
The decision comes amid heightened scrutiny in Texas of entities linked to the Holy Land Foundation case. Governor Greg Abbott has designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization under state law, affecting their ability to purchase land in Texas.