Jordanian wins bid to stay in U.S.

CINCINNATI — A U.S. appellate court has blocked a bid by U.S. immigration officials to remove a Jordanian woman who said a cousin in her homeland has vowed to kill her because she got pregnant out of wedlock.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month stated that the case record “overwhelmingly supports” the woman’s belief she would be persecuted if returned to Jordan, where she would face an honor killing or involuntary incarceration for “protective custody.”

So-called “honor killings” are an ancient practice across the globe that calls for defending a family’s reputation by slaying female relatives who violate traditional taboos.

The decision by the Cincinnati-based court sends the case of Olga Jad Kamar, who lives in the Detroit area, back to the Board of Immigration Appeals for further review.

Her attorney, George Mann, called the ruling “a very important step forward not just for our client, but for many similarly situated women. It is a recognition by our courts that these practices are against our values and women who are subjected to what amounts to barbarian practices deserve our protection.”

The Justice Department didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment. Immigration authorities had rejected Kamar’s appeal in 2016.

Kamar, born in Lebanon in 1964 but a Jordan-raised citizen, lost her visiting student status in the United States when she left school, court records show. She was married and had three sons; she divorced and then became pregnant in 2007 before marrying the father.

The Associated Press reported this year in Amman, Jordan, that Jordan’s main criminal court dealt with nine slayings of women in 2015 that were labeled “honor crimes” and eight more honor killing cases in 2016. Even rape victims have been “punished” in honor crimes, and some Jordanian laws have allowed lenient treatment of those who kill or assault female relatives.

Jordanian legal officials say that Jordanian courts have imposed harsher sentences for honor crimes, and that no convicted killer has received a sentence of less than 10 years since 2010.