Opinon: ISIS bride forfeited her American citizenship
The debate of citizenship of a former ISIS bride and member, Hoda Muthana, continues as she is barred from returning to America, and for
good reason.
Muthana, 24, is the daughter of a former Yemeni diplomat. She was born in the United States and lived her entire life in the U.S. According to Vox, Muthana, then 20 years old, withdrew from the University of Alabama-Birmingham in 2014 and used a U.S. issued passport to fly to Syria and
join ISIS.
According to the Counter Extremist Project, Muthana sent out a tweet March 19, 2015, about Americans stating, “Go on drive-bys and spill all of their blood, or rent a big truck and drive all over them.”
Now, Muthana wants to come back to the United States with her
18-month-old son.
Muthana said she is ready to face the consequences of her actions and has expressed remorse for leaving Alabama. President Trump tweeted “I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!”
The government claims that she is, and never was, an American citizen.
Muthana’s father was a Yemeni diplomat around the time of Muthana’s birth. As diplomats are generally exempt from the laws of the nation they serve in, the children they have while in that nation are considered citizens of the country their diplomatic
parents serve.
The question of Muthana’s birthright citizenship stems from whether her father was a diplomat at the time of her birth.
PASSPORT BURNING — Hoda Muthana’s citizenship is in question in part because she allegedly burned her passport in 2016 and has no valid American ID, according to Vox.
Muthana was born Oct. 28, 1994, in Hackensack, New Jersey. Due to the Yemeni civil war, her father’s status as a diplomat was terminated. According to the Atlantic, his position was terminated on Sept. 1, 1994, over a month before Muthana’s birth. However, the Atlantic also noted that according to the government, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations was not notified of his termination until Feb. 6, 1995, which was more than three months after her birth.
While Muthana was previously granted passports according to the New York Post, she burned her passport when she joined ISIS, an act which shows she was fully renouncing the United States and waging war on the freedom we hold so dear. Give Muthana’s history with an extremely dangerous terrorist organization like ISIS, it is highly unlikely she will ever be considered for a Green Card.
“Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and will not be admitted into the United States. She does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States,” Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State said.
In spite of the evidence presented and the Trump administration’s wish to bar Muthana from the country, BBC reported that Muthana’s father filed a lawsuit for “unlawful attempt” to revoke Muthana’s citizenship. If this lawsuit makes it into the judicial system, it has the potential to set a powerful precendent for any other former American ISIS members looking to re-enter the U.S.
Even if Muthana was a natural-born American citizen, according the law, she gave up her right to citizenship when she pledged allegiance to a foreign state. A state that is constantly waging war on the ideas of the “west” and the rights of their own citizens to live a free and prosperous life. Muthana gave up her chance for “The American Dream” when she renounced everything we as United States citizens fight for every day.
The U.S. cannot allow every sympathetic ISIS fighter back into the country. Yes, she showed remorse for leaving, but it remains to be seen if she has shown remorse for the heinous acts committed by ISIS or any remorse toward the thousands of lives ISIS has taken as a result of their war
on the west.
Muthana made a decision when she was 20, a legal adult. That decision was to turn her back on the United States and the freedom we are afforded every day of our lives. If she turned her back on the U.S., then we have the right to turn our back on her.
Muthana left the country to fight directly for the enemy of the United States of America. Treason is not taken lightly in this country, and Muthana must pay the price. The American Dream is earned, and never given. The only right she has now is the right to live with the consequences of her treason.