The lawyer for an Alabama woman denied return to the U.S. after joining the Islamic State group in Syria says he has evidence she’s an American citizen.
U.S. officials contend that Hoda Muthana isn’t a citizen and has no legal basis to travel to the U.S.
President Donald Trump says he decided to deny her return and that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agrees with that decision. Pompeo says Muthana isn’t a citizen and doesn’t have a valid passport.
Her lawyer, Hassan Shibly, released a copy of her birth certificate and a letter from a U.S. official indicating her father was no longer a diplomat when she was born in 1994. Shibly says Muthana had a valid U.S. passport before she joined the militant group in 2014.
Is it legal for Muthana to be denied entry to the US? Is there legal precedent for revoking someone’s citizenship?
With files from Associated Press.
Guest:
Stephen Vladeck, professor of law at the University of Texas-Austin and co-editor-in-chief of the national security law blog “Just Security”; he tweets
Jan Ting, professor of law emeritus at Temple University where he specializes in the areas of citizenship and immigration law; he tweets