There is a renewed push for Congress to pass legislation to revoke the citizenship of those Americans that join terrorist groups.
Sen. Ted Cruz is leading the charge. The bill will be introduced into the House by Iowa Republican, Rep. Steve King.
The new iteration of the bill takes into consideration the criticism by civil rights groups that previous versions did not allow for due process. The bill also uses the same process that the government has used since 1926 to revoke citizenship of Americans that join foreign armies from countries that the United States is at war with.
Cruz thinks that banning people from terrorist-stricken countries from entering the U.S. only deals with half of the problem, and that the federal government also needs to worry about U.S. citizens who may try the same thing.
“If an American citizen travels abroad and joins a terrorist group waging jihad on America, attempting to murder innocent Americans, this legislation would strip that individual of their U.S. citizenship, so that we would not have terrorists returning to America using U.S. passports,” Cruz told the Washington Examiner…
…Previous iterations of the bill have drawn opposition from some civil libertarians, who worry it would give the federal government expanded powers to revoke citizenship without due process. Under Cruz’s bill, anyone who lost their citizenship over alleged terrorist ties would have 60 days to request a due process hearing to challenge the decision.
Read more: Washington Examiner
Since September 11, 2001, over a hundred Americans or green card holders have travelled overseas to join terrorist groups. Several hundred more have tried to join ISIS in recent years.
Cruz says:
“This legislation is a common sense step to recognize that people can [wage] war against America in more ways than one,” he said. “You don’t need to be a member of a nation-state military to be a terrorist at war with America.”
PATRIOTS: Should Trump REVOKE Citizenship For Americans Who Join ISIS?
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