Hoda Muthana case: Alabama woman who joined Islamic State stuck in refugee camp

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Alabama woman who joined Islamic State stuck in refugee camp

January 12, 2022

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Attorneys for a woman who left her Alabama home to join the Islamic State terror group plan to continue fighting for her and her young son even though the Supreme Court declined to consider her lawsuit seeking to re-enter the United States, one of the lawyers said Wednesday.

Hoda Muthana and her 4-year-old child, the son of a man she met while with IS, have been living in a Syrian refugee camp for nearly the entire life of the child, and it’s unclear what steps might come next to argue for their admittance into the United States, said Christina Jump, who represents the woman’s family.

But Jump, who works with the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America, said attorneys are considering options.

-snip-

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of a lawsuit filed by relatives on behalf of Muthana, who was born in New Jersey and fled her home in suburban Birmingham in 2014 to join Islamic State, apparently after becoming radicalized online.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-alabama-united-states-birmingham-islamic-state-group-5195dd68a8b6753bac474265c5d108f7

[Glorfindel]

1. Stuck? She chose to go to join Islamic State

If it wasn't quite the paradise she envisioned, whose fault is that?

[JT45242]

2. only tells part of the story

Was she born in the US -- sort of. Her parents were diplomats so she had diplomatic immunity as a child and NOT American citizen status.

The fact that she did not actually live in the consulate and that her parents had a separate residence does not change her legal status as a member of a foreign diplomatic delegation. So, she was never an American citizen -- she could not have been tried in an American court if she did something illegal when she resided in the US the first time.

[Eugene]

3. The linked article covers that in detail.

The excerpt is at the copyright limit.

[keithbvadu2]

4. She is with her people now.

[keithbvadu2]

5. Are all natural born children American citizens?

Are all natural born children American citizens?

No… there is one exception.

Children of diplomats.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/birthright-citizenship-is-a-fundamental-constitutional-value/2018/07/20/49d7f9d2-8c46-11e8-8b20-60521f27434e_story.html?utm_term=.afecc93b0471&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

“The Supreme Court has long defined “subject to the jurisdiction” to carve out from the birthright citizenship guarantee only the children of diplomats who are immune from prosecution under U.S. laws. Meanwhile, if undocumented immigrants or their children commit a crime in the United States, they can be and are punished under U.S. law. In other words, they are - obviously! - subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. If born on American soil, they are also citizens of the United States.”

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Amendment 14
(Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.)

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.