Who is Hoda Muthana, the ex-ISIS bride awaiting US citizenship?

Hoda Muthana, a US-born Yemeni woman who ran away from home in Alabama at the age of 20 to join the Islamic State (ISIS) group, now wants to return to the States. This has put her into a citizenship controversy as the US government is of the opinion that Muthana “is not and never was a US citizen.”

After returning from ISIS, Muthana has been unable to return to the United States. Her citizenship status remains at the centre of this debate.

Also Read |Hunter Biden sold his father as 'the brand' to oligarchs, House Oversight GOP claims

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Recently, the US Supreme Court refused to hear her case, making it complicated. Muthana’s lawyer, Charles Swift, on the other hand, is imploring President Joe Biden to bring her back to the US, urging“President Biden to do the right thing.”

Who is Hoda Muthana, an ex-ISIS bride awaiting US citizenship?

Hoda Muthana, 28, is a US-born Yemeni woman who movedfrom the States to Syria to join ISIS in November 2014. She surrendered in January 2019 to coalition forces fighting the terror group in Syria. She has been denied access back to the United States after a US court ruling rejected her claim to American citizenship.

As per the court, when Muthana was born, her father was a Yemeni diplomat, making her ineligible for American citizenship by birth.

In December 2014, Muthana married Suhan Rahman, an Australian jihadist who went by the name Abu Jihad Al-Australia. On Twitter, she advocated for terror attacks against civilians in the US and encouraged more residents to travel to ISIS-controlled territory and support the caliphate.

Also Read |China to make it compulsory for all apps to share business details in new oversight push

Muthana's husband, Rahman, was killed in Syria in March 2015. She then married a Tunisian fighter and gave birth to a son. Muthana stated that she began to question her allegiance to the caliphate around this time.

In January 2016, the Obama Administration revoked Muthana's passport and stated in a letter that she was not a birthright citizen because her father's termination of diplomatic status had not been officially documented until February 1995.

Also Read |Woman beaten, chained to dog cage and forced to eat animal faeces by employer in Indonesia

On 21 February 2019, Muthana's father, Ahmed Ali Muthana, filed an emergency lawsuit, asking the federal government to affirm Muthana's citizenship and allow her to return to the United States.

But in November 2019, a federal judge ruled that she did not have American citizenship.

In 2021, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the District Court, ruling that Muthana is not a US citizen. In 2022, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.