New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill visited a Paterson mosque for a Ramadan celebration led by an imam who spent nearly two decades fighting federal deportation efforts over alleged connections to Hamas.

Sherrill posted photos of her visit to the Islamic Center of Passaic County on social media, showing her wearing a hijab, taking selfies, and speaking with the mosque’s longtime leader, Imam Mohammad Qatanani.

“Thank you to the Islamic Center of Passaic County for welcoming me to join their celebration as the holy month of Ramadan comes to a close,” the Democratic governor wrote. “I wish our Muslim neighbors a safe, joyous, and peaceful Eid al-Fitr.”

Qatanani, a Palestinian-born cleric, has been at the center of one of New Jersey’s longest-running immigration battles. Federal authorities first moved to deport him in the mid-2000s, arguing he had made misrepresentations on his green card application and raising national security concerns based on Israeli intelligence records that allegedly linked him to Hamas. Qatanani has denied the allegations, saying he was detained by Israeli authorities but never convicted.

An immigration judge ruled in Qatanani’s favor in 2008, finding the government’s evidence unreliable and giving little weight to the Israeli court documents used to support the case. The judge also found that the government had not proven Qatanani engaged in terrorist activity. Court records raised additional concerns about the reliability of statements attributed to the imam, including whether some may have been obtained under coercive conditions.

Subsequent rulings over the years continued to go in Qatanani’s favor. A federal appeals court blocked his deportation in 2025, ruling that immigration officials had acted improperly in attempting to reverse his legal status. The court found that the Board of Immigration Appeals “exceeded its authority” by using an agency regulation in a manner inconsistent with procedures established by Congress.

The ruling, however, turned on procedural grounds — specifically that federal authorities had missed deadlines to challenge a key decision granting Qatanani permanent residency — rather than resolving the underlying allegations about his background.