Father of Alabama woman who joined ISIS sues Trump administration

The father of Hoda Muthana, the Alabama woman who fled the country to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is suing the Trump administration seeking his daughter’s return to the U.S.

Ahmed Ali Muthana filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming that his daughter is a U.S. citizen and should be allowed to return to the country with her 18-month-old son, according to The Associated Press.

Hoda Muthana, 24, who was born in New Jersey, traveled to Syria to join ISIS in 2014. The Obama administration revoked her passport in 2016 on the grounds that because her father was a Yemeni diplomat, she was not automatically considered a U.S. citizen at birth.

{mosads}The family’s lawsuit claims that Ahmed Ali Muthana was no longer a diplomat by the time his daughter was born. Hoda Muthana’s parents became naturalized U.S. citizens.

Lawyers for Hoda Muthana said in a statement that she has “accepted full responsibility” for her actions and expects to be charged with supporting terrorism if she returns to the U.S.

“In Ms. Muthana’s words, she recognizes that she has ‘ruined’ her own life, but she does not want to ruin the life of her young child,” they said, according to the AP.

President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week that Muthana is not a U.S. citizen and should not be allowed to return.

Muthana, who is currently in a refugee camp in northern Syria with her son, has pleaded with the U.S. government to allow her to return, saying she regrets joining the terrorist group. She was married three times to ISIS fighters and became a prominent online recruiter for the group.

“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 told ABC News in an interview. “I hope America doesn’t think I’m a threat to them and I hope they can accept me.”