Palestinian American targeted for discriminatory selective prosecution, charge civil rights attorneys

Legal representatives to speak out for first time on eve of arraignment for 65-year-old women’s rights activist who faces 10 years in prison and deportation on immigration charge

Press Conference will be held 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at the People’s Law Office, 1180 N. Milwaukee Ave., in Chicago

CHICAGO, IL – An attorney from the legal team for Rasmea Odeh will join her supporters at a press conference in Chicago at 11AM on Tuesday, November 12 to speak publicly about her legal case for the first time, as lawyers prepare for her formal arraignment on immigration charges the following day.  Michael Deutsch of the National Lawyers Guild and the People’s Law Office has expressed concern that this is a case of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) behaving in a discriminatory fashion.

Odeh is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, at 1PM EST on Wednesday, November 13^th for arraignment.  She was arrested on October 22^nd at her home in Evergreen Park and charged with Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization for allegedly untruthfully answering questions on her immigration application to the U.S.

Odeh’s supporters, who range from members of civil rights groups and faith based institutions like Chicago’s American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to civil liberties attorneys and women’s rights advocates, argue that the charge brought against her is another example of the escalation of federal law enforcement repression against Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims in this country. Odeh is a well-known and respected activist in the Palestinian American community of Chicago who has been honored for her social services and women’s empowerment work by the Chicago Cultural Alliance. Scores of organizations across the U.S. rallied to her cause after the arrest, and the media in the Arab world have also covered the news.

Supporters are preparing to travel from Chicago and other Midwest cities by chartered bus and car caravan to pack the courtroom and rally in her support in Detroit on November 13^th.  Solidarity rallies and protests are also being organized in cities that include Oakland, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and New York.

“There has been a massive outpouring of love and support for Rasmea across the U.S. and the world,” says Rasmea’s friend and colleague Hatem Abudayyeh. “There is no justification for this political attack on a 65-year-old woman who has dedicated her life to progress and social justice.  We will stand with her to fight these charges.”