Nation Glance
Government seeks to revoke U.S. citizenship of 4 Somalis
MINNEAPOLIS — The Justice Department moved Monday to revoke the U.S. citizenship of four Minnesotans from Somalia accused of lying on their visa application. The four entered the U.S. through a program that President Donald Trump said should be eliminated after it was disclosed that the suspect in a recent New York terror attack had also used it.
Fosia Abdi Adan, 51, whose last known address was Eden Prairie, entered the U.S. under the diversity lottery visa program in 2001. Civil complaints filed in federal court in Minnesota on Monday allege she then used her visa to get visas for a man she falsely claimed was her husband, and two cousins of hers who she and the man falsely claimed were their children. The complaints say all four used false names at the time. They eventually became American citizens.
“The current immigration system is easily abused by fraudsters and nefarious actors, and that’s certainly true of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in the announcement. “If the fraud is not detected and swift enforcement actions are not taken, chain migration only multiplies the consequences of this abuse.”
The complaints name Adan’s purported husband as Ahmed Mohamed Warsame, 54, of St. Cloud, and their purported sons as Mustaf Abdi Adan, 33, of Minneapolis and Faysal Jama Mire, 31, of the Minneapolis area.
Stripping the citizenship of a person who obtains it after entering the U.S. under fraudulent circumstances is a necessary first step before the government can seek deportation.
Jury can’t agree on child killer’s fate; judge to decide
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A jury has been unable to reach a unanimous decision about whether to order the execution of a former middle-school football coach convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl.
The Springfield NewsLeader reports that jurors heard arguments Monday from prosecutors who urged them to order the death penalty for 49-yearold Craig Wood, whom they had convicted on Thursday of first-degree murder in the February 2014 death of Hailey Owens.
Wood shot Hailey in the back of the head after raping her. Defense attorneys said Wood would actually suffer more if he were given life in prison and had to think every day about the “unthinkable harm” he had done.
Judge Thomas Mountjoy will decide Jan. 11 whether Wood will get the death penalty or life in prison.
Florida State suspends Greek life following alcohol death
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State University indefinitely suspended its fraternities and sororities Monday after the alcoholrelated death of a freshman pledge and cocaine charges for another fraternity member.
University President John Thrasher didn’t say how long the suspension will last.
Florida State is at least the third university this year to suspend Greek life because of alcohol-related tragedies. After the February hazing death of 19-year old Timothy Piazza, Penn State suspended fraternities and sororities from holding social activities during the spring semester. Louisiana State had a one-month suspension and continues to ban alcohol at Greek parties after the hazing death of 18year old Maxwell Gruver in September.
At Florida State, Andrew Coffey, a pledge at Pi Kappa Phi, died Friday after he was found unresponsive following a party. Police said there were indicators that alcohol may have been a factor, but authorities were waiting for the results of an autopsy before determining a cause of death.