The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Should Hoda Muthana be allowed to return to the US, after leaving to join ISIS in 2014, and why can she not just come back since she is an American citizen?”
The US government contends that she acquired her citizenship while her father was a diplomat, making it null and void. This is contested by her family. Citizens should be concerned about a government that is willing to strip citizenship from citizens no matter how egregious their offences. There are legal consequences of such a policy for others as well.
From a practical perspective, it does not benefit the nation to strip terrorists or suspected terrorists of their citizenship. They have left the country to fight for a cause inclement to the national interest elsewhere. This likely means they have acquired skills that can be used against the national interest, or can become ideologues for such a cause. They are effectively out of the legal reach of the nation, and a military solution is much more expensive and not cost effective.
It would make more sense to have her extradited back, debriefed for intelligence, tried for sedition and terrorism, and then executed. This is a permanent solution that sends the correct message to others thinking to do the same.
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