Bill to Grant Meriam Ibrahim Legal US Status Introduced

Saturday, June 14, 2014

By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent

WASHINGTON D.C. (Worthy News)-- Congressman Tom Cotton (R-Dardanelle) Thursday introduced H.R. 4821 to give Meriam Ibrahim and her two children permanent legal status in the United States, according to International Christian Concern.

Ibrahim is a Sudanese Christian who -- along with her 20-month-old son Martin and newborn daughter Maya -- have spent the last 5 months imprisoned in Khartoum on charges of adultery and apostasy for both her marriage to a non-Muslim and her refusal to renounce Christianity and return to Islam, the faith of her absentee father.

Ibrahim was sentenced to death by hanging last month in Khartoum and Sudanese authorities have shown no intentions of releasing her. Ibrahim's husband -- a naturalized U.S. citizen and a resident of New Hampshire -- has been rebuffed in his attempts to seek assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum.

"The gross mistreatment of Meriam Ibrahim by the Sudanese government is deplorable and such religious oppression has no place in the modern world," said Cotton. "I am disappointed by the Obama administration's inaction in her case and urge the President to immediately grant Meriam permanent legal resident status in the United States, so that she, her husband, and her children can live free from religious persecution."