Washington - The family of a US-born woman who went to Syria to join Islamic State has filed a lawsuit against the US government Thursday after authorities rescinded her citizenship and stated they won't allow her back in the country.
Hoda Muthana left Alabama some four years ago to join the extremist organisation and urged violence against the US. She was recently captured by the Kurdish-led forces who have encircled the last plot of land controlled by Islamic State in eastern Syria.
Muthana married in Syria and had a child, whose fate also remains unclear as his citizenship is effectively being questioned.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that Muthana, who was born in New Jersey in 1994, is not a citizen. He said this was because her father was a diplomat when she was born, meaning she would not qualify for birthright citizenship.
Muthana's Alabama-based family says she was born after her father quit his job at the United Nations.
Hassan Shibly, a lawyer for the family, has noted that Muthana has lived her whole life as a United States citizen and has held a US passport.
The lawsuit, filed by the Constitutional Law Center for Muslim in America on behalf of her family, notes that Muthana would likely be charged with material aid to a terrorist organisation should she be allowed to return.
The US, and Pompeo, have been spearheading a call for nations around the world to take back citizens who became foreign fighters or supporters within the Islamic State group's structures.
Many have been captured by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces as Islamic State collapses.
dpa
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