Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Lying to Become a US Citizen--Guilty Verdict for Rasmieh Odeh

Parents, this current event may be a little hard for kids under age 6 to understand. 

Article: A high profile trial of Rasmieh Odeh, 67, has been underway for the last few months and on Monday concluded with a guilty verdict. Federal prosecutors brought Rasmieh to trial for lying on her immigration papers. In 1967, Rasmieh, who was then living in Israel, bombed a crowded supermarket in Jerusalem, killing two people. Then she exploded a bomb at the British Consulate in Jerusalem though no one was injured. She was arrested and convicted in Israel, sentenced to life in prison but released 10 years later as part of a prisoner exchange. She immigrated to the US in 1995 and became a citizen in 2004. On all of her US immigration papers--when she came into the country, when she applied to be a US citizen--she lied when asked the question, "Have you been convicted of a crime?" (Kids: why does the government ask this question? They ask this question because they don't want criminals hiding in America.) Because Rasmieh lied about her arrest, conviction and imprisonment, she was found guilty of immigration fraud this week. (Kids: what do you think will happen to her? She will likely be deported and lose her citizenship.)

Argue as if you are Rasmieh's lawyer and as if you are the prosecutor. (Rasmieh's lawyer says her conviction doesn't matter; she already served her time. She is now an upstanding citizen working in Chicago and she is being targeted only because she is Arab. The prosecutor says she is a terrorist who lied to get into America.) What do you think?

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