On Tuesday, the Washington Examiner reported that Sen. Ted Cruz is reviving his fight for the United States to strip citizenship from Americans who join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
The legislation, originally proposed in 2014, was entitled the Expatriate Terrorists Act and was aimed at changing the requirements needed to strip U.S. citizenship from those who became “a member of” or provided “material assistance” to a “designated foreign terrorist organization.”
Cruz believes that not only does the U.S. need to forbid people from coming in from terror-ridden nations, but that there also needs to be some concern about those who are already in the states and citizens of the country.
“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,” Sen.Cruz told the Washington Examiner.
“This should be an idea that even Senate Democrats can support given that Hillary Clinton, when she was in the Senate, supported very similar legislation,” he added.
According to Cruz, 124 U.S. citizens or green card holders have joined ISIS since the 2001 terror attacks. Cruz’s bill would give anyone who lost their citizenship a 60 day timeframe to challenge the decision and request a due process.
“This legislation is a common sense step to recognize that people can [wage] war against America in more ways than one,” Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King said. “You don’t need to be a member of a nation-state military to be a terrorist at war with America.”
Rep. King is introducing Cruz’s bill in the House.
Cruz expressed a positive attitude towards the likelihood of the bill passing with the Trump administration in the White House.
“Our office is conferring on a daily basis with the White House and new administration on this matter and a host of other matters as we work together to deliver on the promises made to the American people,” Cruz said.
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