The Department of Homeland Security has appealed a judge's order granting permanent residency to a New Jersey imam with ties to Hamas. Mohammad Qatanani's failure to report a 1993 arrest and detention by Israeli officials when he applied for his green card is at the heart of the government appeal, the Hackensack Record reports.

Qatanani denies having Hamas links and said that, while he was detained by Israel, he did not include the information on his application because he was not convicted of a crime. A federal judge sided with him last September.

Qatanani had widespread support in New Jersey, despite a record of condemning Christians to eternal hellfire and his attendance at numerous radical conferences in the United States. For example, Qatanani spoke at the 1999 Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) conference in Chicago. The IAP served as a Hamas propaganda arm in the United States and was part of a secret Muslim Brotherhood committee assembled to help Hamas politically and financially.

The appeal is before the Board of Immigration Appeals.