Trump, Pompeo:

Woman Who Joined Daesh Cannot Return to US

TEHRAN (defapress)- President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared on Wednesday that an Alabama woman will not be allowed to return to the United States after traveling to Syria to join ISIS (known as ISIL or Daesh) in 2014.

News ID: 75751

Date: 21 February 2019 - 19:54

Pompeo stated in a statement that Hoda Muthana is not a US citizen and does not have any valid visa to come back to America, World News reported.

“Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a US citizen and will not be admitted into the United States. She does not have any legal basis, no valid US passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States. We continue to strongly advise all US citizens not to travel to Syria,” Pompeo added.

Muthana has pleaded with the government to let her return to her family, telling The Guardian in an interview published this week that she regrets leaving the US for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Lawyers for Muthana’s family have told several media outlets that she is a citizen. However, the State Department told The Hill that Muthana was not born a citizen and never had US citizenship, adding that it could not provide further information due to privacy concerns.

Trump tweeted later Wednesday afternoon that he and Pompeo see eye-to-eye on the issue.

"I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!" the American president said.

Trump’s proclamation came just days after he warned European countries that they must repatriate and put on trial the 800-odd European IS fighters currently held captive by the US’ Syrian allies or the jihadists would be released, certain to “permeate Europe”.

Muthana left Alabama in 2014, telling her family she was going to Atlanta for a school trip, according to AL.com. She traveled to Turkey from Atlanta and then crossed the border into Syria. She eventually became an online recruiter for Daesh. She was captured by Kurdish fighters and is currently in a refugee camp in Northern Syria.

“I don’t know, I thought I was doing things correctly for the sake of God,” Muthana told The Guardian, noting, “And when I came here and saw everything with my own eyes I realized I’ve made a big mistake.”

She told ABC News in a separate interview that she no longer harbors the ideology that pushed her to join Daesh and hopes the US government does not view her as a threat.

“I hope they excuse me because of how young and ignorant I was. Now I’m changed. Now I’m a mother and I have none of the ideology and hopefully everyone will see it when I come back,” she said, adding that “I hope America doesn’t think I’m a threat to them and I hope they can accept me”.

Muthana stated that she wishes to bring her son back to the US as well. She was married to three different Daesh fighters, two of whom died fighting, and had a child with one, according to USA Today.

Message end/