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Father of Alabama woman who joined ISIS in Syria sues Trump administration to return her to U.S.

Click to play video: 'Family attorney of Alabama woman who joined ISIS says Hoda Muthana was born in New Jersey'
Family attorney of Alabama woman who joined ISIS says Hoda Muthana was born in New Jersey
An Alabama woman who left home to join the Islamic State group in Syria is not a US citizen and will not be allowed to return to the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. An attorney for the woman's family, Hassan Shibly, said the administration's position is based on a "complicated" interpretation of the law involving her father – Feb 20, 2019

The father of an Alabama woman who joined the Islamic State in Syria has filed suit against the Trump administration seeking to allow her return to the United States.

Twenty-four-year-old Hoda Muthana is in a Syrian refugee camp with her 18-month-old son after she fled what’s left of the Islamic State’s self-declared homeland. Her lawyers say she regrets joining the organization.

WATCH: American-born ISIS bride hopes to return to U.S.

Click to play video: 'American-born ISIS bride hopes to return to U.S.'
American-born ISIS bride hopes to return to U.S.

But the administration announced earlier this week that the U.S.-born Muthana is not an American citizen because her father was a Yemeni diplomat at the time of her birth in New Jersey. That determination was initially made by the Obama administration after she joined IS.

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WATCH: Feb. 20 — U.K. teen who joined ISIS now asking to return will lose U.K. citizenship

Click to play video: 'U.K. teen who joined ISIS now asking to return will lose U.K. citizenship'
U.K. teen who joined ISIS now asking to return will lose U.K. citizenship

A suit filed Thursday in Washington argues her father had ceased being a diplomat and she is a citizen entitled to return.

READ MORE: Alabama woman who joined Islamic State in Syria can’t return to U.S. — Pompeo

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