A federal judge ruled Thursday that an American-born woman who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State (ISIS) group and now wants to return to her family in Alabama is not a U.S. citizen.
U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton dismissed a lawsuit brought by the family of Hoda Muthana to force the federal government to let her in the country.
Muthana, 25, currently lives with her 2-year-old son in a refugee camp in Syria and has since repudiated the terrorist group. A court motion said she and child, identified only as John Doe, were moved from the Roj refugee camp after receiving death threats from ISIS supporters and that their lives are in danger, The New York Times reported.
“The citizenship status of minor John Doe depends upon the status of Ms. Muthana; accordingly, regardless of the choices made by his mother, the health and survival of a young U.S. citizen depends upon the expeditious resolution of Ms. Muthana’s civil case,” the claim said.
In addition to dismissing a lawsuit, Walton also ruled that Muthana’s father, Ahmed Ali Muthana, could not provide financial support to his daughter or grandson without being subject to charges of providing material support of terrorism.
Walton ruled that Ali Muthana, who formerly represented Yemen in the United Nations, is still a diplomat. Children born to diplomats are not granted automatic citizenship in the U.S.
Ali Muthana left his post before his daughter was born in 1994 in Hackensack, N.J., according to The Times. However, the federal government said it wasn’t notified of the change until 1995 and stopped recognizing his diplomatic status only then. – READ MORE