Washington: The father of Hoda Muthana, the Alabama woman who fled to Syria to marry an Islamic State (IS) fighter filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s administration over her right to return with her 18-month-old baby after the US President said she will not be allowed back on American soil.
Muthana, 24, joined the IS in 2014. She married twice, both times to ISIS fighters who later died in combat. Muthana fled to the al-Hawl refugee camp in December last year amid the collapse of the ISIS caliphate in Syria and Iraq.
“I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!” Trump tweeted Wednesday.
Ahmed Ali Muthana filed the lawsuit Friday, accusing the Trump administration of an ‘unlawful attempt’ to revoke Hoda’s citizenship. Hoda has said she is willing to face federal charges upon her return. But Trump has ordered officials to bar the former IS propagandist from entering the US.
The lawsuit emphasises that the woman’s father is not arguing against any prosecution from the US government over her actions in Syria, but wants lawful recognition of her US citizenship and the citizenship of her child.
Muthana has ‘publicly acknowledged her actions and accepted full responsibility’, a statement announcing the lawsuit said. “In Ms Muthana’s words, she recognizes that she has ‘ruined’ her own life, but she does not want to ruin the life of her young child,” the plea stated.
Pompeo had earlier confirmed her father’s prior status as a Yemeni diplomat for the United Nations was behind the administration’s decision. Under US law, the children of diplomats are not considered US citizens.
The exact timeline of when Ahmed Ali stopped serving as a diplomat and when his daughter was born is now being contested by the Trump administration. The family maintains Hoda was previously recognised as a citizen by the US Department of State and given a US passport in 2004.
AFP
