Wednesday, February 20, 2019
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Alabama woman who left home to join the Islamic State group in Syria is not a U.S. citizen and will not be allowed to return to the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said today.
In a brief statement that gave no details as to how the determination was reached, Pompeo said Hoda Muthana, who says she made a mistake in joining the group and now wants to return with her 18-month-old son, has no "legal basis" to claim American citizenship.
"Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and will not be admitted into the United States," Pompeo said. "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."
Muthana's status had been considered by lawyers from the departments of State and Justice since her case arose, according to one U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official would not elaborate but said Pompeo's statement was based on the lawyers' conclusions.
An attorney for the woman's family, Hassan Shibly, said the administration's position is based on a "complicated" interpretation of the law involving her father.
"They're claiming her dad was a diplomat when she was born, which, in fact, he wasn't," Shibly told The Associated Press.
Muthana was born in 1994 in Hackensack, N.J., the lawyer said.
Most people born in the United States are accorded so-called birthright citizenship but there are exceptions.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a person born in the U.S. to a foreign diplomatic officer is not subject to U.S. law and is not automatically considered a U.S. citizen at birth.