Yesterday the Associated Press posted an article about Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan, a Jordanian immigrant.

The article reports:

A Jordanian immigrant could face the death penalty after a Texas jury convicted him of killing his daughter’s American husband and an Iranian women’s rights activist in what prosecutors described as “honor killings.”

Prosecutors say Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan was enraged when Nesreen Irsan left home to marry a Christian and convert to Christianity, so he orchestrated the killings of his son-in-law and his daughter’s close friend who had encouraged the marriage.

“Honor and shame, that’s what this is all about,” special prosecutor Anna Emmons told jurors. “You heard him say honor is a big deal to him. And the only way to clean that honor is to kill.”

Irsan’s trial in Houston lasted five weeks, but jurors deliberated for just 35 minutes Thursday before convicting him in the deaths of Coty Beavers and Gelareh Bagherzadeh, according to the Houston Chronicle . A sentencing hearing was set to begin Friday. Irsan faces life in prison or the death penalty.

Irsan testified that his daughter caused his family pain after running away to marry Beavers, and that Bagherzadeh had encouraged the union.

Americans need to understand that this behavior would be perfectly acceptable in Mr. Irsan’s homeland of Jordan.

The article also reports:

Nesreen Irsan testified that her father forbade her from dating Christians. She said she went to court to obtain a protective order to stop her family from harassing her after she moved in with Beavers.

Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan acknowledged that he violated the protective order by continuing to call his daughter and drive near Beavers’ home. But he said he was concerned his daughter was on drugs and making bad decisions.

The first thing we need to require of immigrants to America is that they respect our laws. Obviously Mr. Irsan did not respect the protective order or the law against murder. Honor killings are a way of life in Muslim countries. We need to make it clear to people immigrating to America from those countries that murder is against the law here, and we need to make sure those guilty of murder are sent to jail for a very long time. This case is one example of why immigrants to America need to assimilate into our culture. We do not have a perfect culture, but if you want to live here, you need to abide by the rules.