News on Youtube Feb 21 2019

ALERT: Rescheduled Elections Could Encounter Setback In 13 States Due To INEC Staff Shortage

The rescheduled 2019 elections may suffer yet another setback as no fewer than 13 states are battling with a shortfall of critical field staff, SaharaReporters can report.

Adamawa, Anambra, Cross Rivers, Delta, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Osun and Taraba are some of the states already on the red alert, according to investigations.

Our checks show that 205 staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), all playing crucial roles, have been interdicted by the commission for the past 22 months.

 The affected officials are either Electoral Officers (EOs) or Heads of Department (HoDs) saddled with logistics and operational duties at all levels.

Sources within the commission have raised the alarm about another possible flop, saying, "Saturday's rescheduled presidential and National Assembly elections may still suffer another setback, due to the huge gap of experience created by the interdiction.

One source expressed certainty that INEC Electoral Officers and other critical field officials from 13 states, all numbering 205, will not be participating in the exercise.

Worse still, the commission has not competently replaced the loss of manpower, thereby exposing the process to a plethora of problems as witnessed last week.

It was gathered that Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the affected 13 states have made several appeals about shortfall of staff, but to no avail.

For instance, Kashim Gaidam, REC of Adamawa State, was said to have cried out the loudest about "manpower shortfall". SaharaReporters gathered that majority of those currently handling both professional and technical roles were drawn from menial staff, like security and cleaners.

In Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa, the current Electoral Officer was recruited as a guard by the commission. The situation is virtually the same in a good number of other places.

Jada is both hometown and local government origin of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

As to how and why the 205 were interdicted, SaharaReporters further learnt that about 1,000 INEC staff across the country were implicated in the alleged Diezani Alison-Madueke $90 billion loot.

One of the interdicted staff told SaharaReporters: "For us, the hullabaloo about INEC staff accepting gratification from the alleged Diezani loot was the Chairman's invented way of conducting the elections with incompetent hands.

"The allegation is that we accepted gratification from proceeds of Diezani's loot through West Africa Network on Observer (WANO), an accredited election monitoring organisation.

"Yes, WANO partnered INEC in 2015 and they were domiciled right within INEC office, where they gave all of us cash grants for logistics support. This was done in the open, there was nothing hidden about it.

"Later, we were summoned to Abuja and asked to refund the money, that it was from the Diezani loot, and we did.

Afterwards, we received letters of interdiction from INEC headquarters that we had been found guilty of an offence we were neither investigated nor queried about.".

It is curious, however, that the interdiction has now lasted for 22 months. What is more disturbing is that the commission is faced with acute manpower needs at this critical time.

Also, some staff of the commission, who are currently standing trial, in connection to various scandals have not been interdicted.

This, SaharaReporters can report based on facts available, seeing the Admin Secretary in Bauchi and Anambra have both been indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the Diezani saga but have not been interdicted.

Another interdicted staff member said: "Also curious is how the staff remained suspended despite confirmation by EFCC, that the 205 staff were not liable to prosecution regarding the matter at hand.

When contacted to react on the matter, Gaidam admitted to having made spirited efforts for the reinstatement of the interdicted staff from his Adamawa office. However, he refuted claims that the interdiction could jeopardise the polls.

"If Gaidam falls down right now elections will go on hitch-free," he maintained. Asked for how long the staff would remain suspended, Gaidam said: "The issue is before the National Chairman, please direct the question to him.

He also alluded to the fact that justice needed to be done on the matter, saying: "Without justice any system of government will collapse.

For more infomation >> ALERT: Rescheduled Elections Could Encounter Setback In 13 States Due To INEC Staff Shortage - Duration: 6:18.

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Fish pedicure spas operate without oversight in Ohio; banned in some states - Duration: 3:16.

For more infomation >> Fish pedicure spas operate without oversight in Ohio; banned in some states - Duration: 3:16.

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16 States File Lawsuits Against Trump Over His Fake National Emergency - Duration: 3:02.

As of right now, 16 different states have filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and the

Trump administration over there phoning national emergency declaration that Donald Trump made

last week, and we all expected these lawsuits to happen.

We knew there were coming, people had been threatening to sue since before he even made

the announcement.

If he did make the announcement, and that's what we're seeing now.

Even Trump himself admitted when he gave his little speech, he said, and then they're going

to sue me, and then it's going to go to the ninth circuit and then it's going to go to

the supreme could, and that's exactly what's going to happen.

Everybody knew this was gonna happen, but here's the thing.

Trump already screwed himself over in his potential defense for these lawsuits because

it his announcement, he said, I could do the wall over a longer period of time.

I didn't need to do this, but I'd rather do it much faster.

I'd rather do it much faster.

That little statement that I just read there, which is the exact quote from the president

of the United States.

That quote alone shows that this was not actually an emergency.

The fact that border crossings or a at a near 45 year low also shows that this is not a

national emergency.

Now the only question that this point is, do the courts get to determine what constitutes

a national emergency?

And that's where we're probably gonna run into a little bit of problems.

Cause technically, yes, according to the laws, the president can declare a national emergency

when he wants to.

There's not necessarily any justification that they have to give.

And that is a problem with the law itself.

And hopefully these lawsuits might be able to reign that in.

But nonetheless, Trump's admitted this is not actually a national emergency.

These lawsuits are being filed and we're going to challenge these powers in court.

And if these courts decide to limit the powers of the president of the United States, that

is a good thing.

Not just for Donald Trump, but for anyone who comes after him.

Because we do not need a president trying to abuse the power of their office because

the laws are written so vaguely that they can do whatever the hell they want.

In fact, I believe that's actually why the laws were written so vaguely.

Hopefully we can correct that.

Hopefully most of these right wing courts in this country aren't going to screw us over

and grant dictator like powers to the president of the United States, but unfortunately that's

going to be something that we're going to have to wait and see as these lawsuits make

their way through our court system.

For more infomation >> 16 States File Lawsuits Against Trump Over His Fake National Emergency - Duration: 3:02.

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Unanimous Supreme Court decision limits states' ability to seize personal property - Duration: 4:08.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A unanimous decision today from the U.S. Supreme Court today limits the

ability of states to seize private property and impose excessive fines.

The decision came from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was back on the bench for the

second time since undergoing cancer surgery in December.

Amna Nawaz has more.

AMNA NAWAZ: The case began when an Indiana man pleaded guilty to selling $225 of heroin.

The police later claimed his Land Rover had been used to transport drugs and seized the

$42,000 car, something a lower court said was disproportionate to the gravity of his

offense.

To help explain the decision, I'm joined, as always, by Marcia Coyle of "The National

Law Journal."

We have talked about a number of cases before.

Every time the Supreme Court considers one of these cases, there is a central question,

a central issue.

What was it here?

MARCIA COYLE, "The National Law Journal": Right.

The justices were asked whether the ban against excessive fines in the Eighth Amendment applies

to the states.

Does it protect us from state action that is excessive in fines or forfeiture?

And the court said today, in an opinion, a unanimous opinion, Amna, by Justice Ginsburg,

and a short one as well, nine pages, that that excessive fines ban does protect us against

state action.

AMNA NAWAZ: And so what do we know about the impact of a decision like this?

There's obviously a lot of background that feeds into this.

I know Justice Thomas actually cited some reporting around the issue in his decision.

What is the impact of a decision like this?

MARCIA COYLE: Well, there have been a number of complaints or allegations by citizens and

also news reports that some police departments have used forfeiture and fines in an abusive

way or in a way that sometimes funds certain activities that they want to do without any

real connection to a crime.

And so what the court did today is going to do two things, basically.

It's going to make police departments probably more cautious in how they use fines and forfeitures,

and it also gives all of us a basis to challenge those forfeitures or fines if we think they

are excessive.

And Justice Ginsburg also pointed out in her opinion that excessive fines and forfeitures

can also undermine our other rights.

She noted, in particular, that if they're used in the wrong way, they can chill speech,

for example, and they can be used as retaliation.

And there have been allegations that they have been used in that way.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Marcia, we should note this isn't the first time they have taken protections

articulated in the Bill of Rights that are meant to protect federal -- from federal action

and extended them to states and local governments.

Could we see that kind of thing happening again?

MARCIA COYLE: Probably.

There are -- believe it or not, they're still two amendments that have not been applied

to the states.

The Fifth Amendment's right to an indictment by a grand jury and the Seventh Amendment

jury trial right in civil lawsuits haven't been applied.

Besides today's action, the most recent time the court applied part of the Bill of -- or

an amendment of the Bill of Rights to the states was in 2010, when it applied the Second

Amendment, the right of individuals to have a gun in the home for self-defense, to the

states.

So you're absolutely right, Amna.

Remember that, when the Bill of Rights was ratified, it was to protect us against federal

action.

And the court over a period of years through what it calls incorporation has applied the

Bill of Rights to the states through our 14th Amendment due process clause.

So, wait and see.

As the issue comes before the court, we will see what the court does with what is still

remaining in the Bill of Rights.

AMNA NAWAZ: Marcia Coyle, good to talk to you, as always.

MARCIA COYLE: Always a pleasure.

Thank you.

For more infomation >> Unanimous Supreme Court decision limits states' ability to seize personal property - Duration: 4:08.

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Putin warns Russia ready to TARGET United States if Europe used as a nuclear base - DAILY NEWS - Duration: 2:36.

Putin warns Russia ready to TARGET United States if Europe used as a nuclear base

VLADIMIR Putin has warned Russia will target the United States if Donald Trump uses European

countries as a nuclear weapons base.

The Russian president said Moscow will respond to any US deployment of short or intermediate-range

nuclear weapons in Europe, in a tough new stance although denying they would take the

first step.

Putin's warning comes after Washington's decision to quit a landmark Cold War-era arms

control treaty this month.

The Kremlin leader warned the US that they should weigh up the risks before they act

as he also threatened to target European countries.

He told Russia's political elite: "It's their right to think how they want but can

they count?

I'm sure they can.

Let them count the speed and the range of the weapons systems we are developing.

"Russia will be forced to create and deploy types of weapons which can be used not only

in respect of those territories from which the direct threat to us originates but also

in respect of those territories where the centres of decision-making are located."

United States officials said they would suspend their obligations under the 1987 nuclear arms

agreement with Russia, that would free them up to develop new missiles.

The pact meant neither side could base short and intermediate-range land-based missiles

in Europe.

Abandoning the treaty has paved the way for a new arms race.

Mr Putin was measured in his speech by not announcing new missile deployments, saying

that money for new systems would come from the existing budget and claiming that Russia

would only act in response to the United States.

He did make it clear that Russia would defend their interests and they would respond if

new US missile bases were put in Europe as that would pose a threat to Russia.

Putin stated that he wanted a good relationship with the United States.

He said: "We know how to do this and we will implement these plans immediately, as

soon as the corresponding threats to us become a reality."

For more infomation >> Putin warns Russia ready to TARGET United States if Europe used as a nuclear base - DAILY NEWS - Duration: 2:36.

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Over 1,000 Hate Groups Are Now Active in United States, Civil Rights Group Says The New York Times - Duration: 4:13.

Over 1,000 Hate Groups Are Now Active in United States, Civil Rights Group Says The New York Times

The number of hate groups in the United States rose for the fourth year in a row in 2018, pushed to a record high by a toxic combination of political polarization, anti immigrant sentiment and technologies that help spread propaganda online, the Southern Poverty Law Center said Wednesday.

The law center said the number of hate groups rose by 7 percent last year to 1,020, a 30 percent jump from 2014. That broadly echoes other worrying developments, including a 30 percent increase in the number of hate crimes reported to the F.B.I. from 2015 through 2017 and a surge of right wing violence that the Anti Defamation League said had killed at least 50 people in 2018.

Were seeing a lot of bad trends, Heidi Beirich, the director of the intelligence project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in an interview on Wednesday. There are more hate groups, more hate crimes and more domestic terrorism in that same vein. It is a troubling set of circumstances.

Ms. Beirich said the increase in extremist activity tracked by her team began in earnest in the early days of the 2016 presidential election, when anxieties over immigration helped propel President Trump to the White House. Before that, she said, the number of hate groups had fallen for three straight years.

Trump has made people in the white supremacist movement move back into politics and the public domain, Ms. Beirich said. He is a critical aspect of this dynamic, but he is not the only reason why the ranks of hate groups are growing. The ability to propagate hate in the online space is key.

The center said in a statement that most hate groups in the United States espoused some form of white supremacist ideology, including neo Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, neo Confederates and white nationalists. It said the number of white nationalist groups jumped by almost 50 percent, to 148 in 2018 from 100.

For the purposes of its study, the center said it considered any organization whose leaders, activities or statement of principles attacks an entire class of people to be a hate group. Violence is not a prerequisite.

The centers findings run parallel to a in the United States that was issued last month by the Anti Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism.

That report said that right wing extremism was linked to every extremist related killing the group tracked in 2018, at least 50, and that jihadist groups were linked to none. It said that made 2018 the deadliest year for right wing extremism since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

The law center and the Anti Defamation League both pointed to at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October as a symptom of the increasingly combustible mix of anti immigrant sentiment, violence and online conspiracy mongering.

The white supremacist attack in Pittsburgh should serve as a wake up call to everyone about the deadly consequences of hateful rhetoric, Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the president of the Anti Defamation League, said in a statement accompanying its report. Its time for our nations leaders to appropriately recognize the severity of the threat and to devote the necessary resources to address the scourge of right wing extremism.

But the rise in anti immigrant sentiment had also created an equal yet opposite reaction, the Southern Poverty Law Center said. As the number of white supremacist groups rose, so did the number of radical black nationalist groups that espoused anti white, anti Semitic or anti gay and anti transgender views.

The center said the number of those groups had risen to 264 in 2018 from 233 in 2017, but it noted that the influence of black nationalism in mainstream politics was highly limited.

It did, however, point specifically to comments by the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who the center said echoed white supremacist myths of a looming white genocide in his rhetoric about President Trump, whom he has accused of planning genocide against African Americans.

Mr. Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have been connected to a organization, two of whose national leaders have been accused of sympathizing with Mr. Farrakhan and privately expressing anti Semitic opinions.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which is based in Montgomery, Ala., has tracked domestic extremism since 1971, but in recent years conservatives have accused it of politicizing its findings and falsely labeling right leaning organizations as hate groups.

The group paid dollar 3.4 million to Maajid Nawaz, a British campaigner against Islamic extremism who sometimes works with conservative anti Muslim politicians, after it included him on a list of anti Muslim extremists in 2016. Richard Cohen, the centers president, said in a that the inclusion of Mr. Nawaz on the list had been wrong.

For more infomation >> Over 1,000 Hate Groups Are Now Active in United States, Civil Rights Group Says The New York Times - Duration: 4:13.

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Court Constitutional ban on high fines applies to states - Duration: 2:31.

Court Constitutional ban on high fines applies to states

WASHINGTON AP — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that the Constitutions ban on excessive fines applies to the states, an outcome that could help efforts to rein in police seizure of property from criminal suspects.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the courts opinion in favor of Tyson Timbs, of Marion, Indiana. Police seized Timbs dollar 40,000 Land Rover when they arrested him for selling about dollar 400 worth of heroin.

Reading a summary of her opinion in the courtroom, Ginsburg noted that governments employ fines "out of accord with the penal goals of retribution and deterrence" because fines are a source of revenue. The 85 year old justice missed arguments last month following lung cancer surgery, but returned to the bench on Tuesday.

Timbs pleaded guilty, but faced no prison time. The biggest loss was the Land Rover he bought with some of the life insurance money he received after his father died.

Timbs still has to win one more round in court before he gets his vehicle back, but that seems to be a formality. A judge ruled that taking the car was disproportionate to the severity of the crime, which carries a maximum fine of dollar 10,000. But Indianas top court said the justices had never ruled that the Eighth Amendments ban on excessive fines — like much of the rest of the Bill of Rights — applies to states as well as the federal government.

The case drew interest from liberal groups concerned about police abuses and conservative organizations opposed to excessive regulation. Timbs was represented by the libertarian public interest law firm Institute for Justice.

"The decision is an important first step for curtailing the potential for abuse that we see in civil forfeiture nationwide," said Sam Gedge, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice.

Law enforcement authorities have dramatically increased their use of civil forfeiture in recent decades. When law enforcement seizes the property of people accused of crimes, the proceeds from its sale often go directly to the agency that took it, the law firm said in written arguments in support of Timbs.

As it did in earlier cases applying parts of the Bill of Rights to the states, the court based its decision on the part of the 14th Amendment that says "no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law." That same provision, the due process clause, also was used in cases that established a womans right to an abortion and knocked down state laws against interracial marriage and gay sex.

The 14th Amendment was passed after the Civil War to ensure the rights of newly freed slaves.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately to say he would have used a different part of the 14th amendment to achieve the same result. Thomas has long been a critic of the courts application of the due process clause, which also is found in the Fifth Amendment. He wrote that cases that employ the provision "are some of the courts most notoriously incorrect decisions," including the abortion rights landmark case Roe v. Wade and the 1857 Dred Scott case that held that African Americans were not citizens.

Thomas said he would have relied on the Constitutions language forbidding states from making or enforcing "any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States."

Justice Neil Gorsuch also expressed his preference for the privileges or immunities clause.

The case is Timbs v. Indiana, 17 1091.

Get the news you need to start your day

Get the news you need to start your day

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For more infomation >> Court Constitutional ban on high fines applies to states - Duration: 2:31.

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Over 1,000 Hate Groups Are Now Active in United States, Civil Rights Group Says The New York Times - Duration: 4:13.

Over 1,000 Hate Groups Are Now Active in United States, Civil Rights Group Says The New York Times

The number of hate groups in the United States rose for the fourth year in a row in 2018, pushed to a record high by a toxic combination of political polarization, anti immigrant sentiment and technologies that help spread propaganda online, the Southern Poverty Law Center said Wednesday.

The law center said the number of hate groups rose by 7 percent last year to 1,020, a 30 percent jump from 2014. That broadly echoes other worrying developments, including a 30 percent increase in the number of hate crimes reported to the F.B.I. from 2015 through 2017 and a surge of right wing violence that the Anti Defamation League said had killed at least 50 people in 2018.

Were seeing a lot of bad trends, Heidi Beirich, the director of the intelligence project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in an interview on Wednesday. There are more hate groups, more hate crimes and more domestic terrorism in that same vein. It is a troubling set of circumstances.

Ms. Beirich said the increase in extremist activity tracked by her team began in earnest in the early days of the 2016 presidential election, when anxieties over immigration helped propel President Trump to the White House. Before that, she said, the number of hate groups had fallen for three straight years.

Trump has made people in the white supremacist movement move back into politics and the public domain, Ms. Beirich said. He is a critical aspect of this dynamic, but he is not the only reason why the ranks of hate groups are growing. The ability to propagate hate in the online space is key.

The center said in a statement that most hate groups in the United States espoused some form of white supremacist ideology, including neo Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, neo Confederates and white nationalists. It said the number of white nationalist groups jumped by almost 50 percent, to 148 in 2018 from 100.

For the purposes of its study, the center said it considered any organization whose leaders, activities or statement of principles attacks an entire class of people to be a hate group. Violence is not a prerequisite.

The centers findings run parallel to a in the United States that was issued last month by the Anti Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism.

That report said that right wing extremism was linked to every extremist related killing the group tracked in 2018, at least 50, and that jihadist groups were linked to none. It said that made 2018 the deadliest year for right wing extremism since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

The law center and the Anti Defamation League both pointed to at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October as a symptom of the increasingly combustible mix of anti immigrant sentiment, violence and online conspiracy mongering.

The white supremacist attack in Pittsburgh should serve as a wake up call to everyone about the deadly consequences of hateful rhetoric, Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the president of the Anti Defamation League, said in a statement accompanying its report. Its time for our nations leaders to appropriately recognize the severity of the threat and to devote the necessary resources to address the scourge of right wing extremism.

But the rise in anti immigrant sentiment had also created an equal yet opposite reaction, the Southern Poverty Law Center said. As the number of white supremacist groups rose, so did the number of radical black nationalist groups that espoused anti white, anti Semitic or anti gay and anti transgender views.

The center said the number of those groups had risen to 264 in 2018 from 233 in 2017, but it noted that the influence of black nationalism in mainstream politics was highly limited.

It did, however, point specifically to comments by the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who the center said echoed white supremacist myths of a looming white genocide in his rhetoric about President Trump, whom he has accused of planning genocide against African Americans.

Mr. Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have been connected to a organization, two of whose national leaders have been accused of sympathizing with Mr. Farrakhan and privately expressing anti Semitic opinions.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which is based in Montgomery, Ala., has tracked domestic extremism since 1971, but in recent years conservatives have accused it of politicizing its findings and falsely labeling right leaning organizations as hate groups.

The group paid dollar 3.4 million to Maajid Nawaz, a British campaigner against Islamic extremism who sometimes works with conservative anti Muslim politicians, after it included him on a list of anti Muslim extremists in 2016. Richard Cohen, the centers president, said in a that the inclusion of Mr. Nawaz on the list had been wrong.

For more infomation >> Over 1,000 Hate Groups Are Now Active in United States, Civil Rights Group Says The New York Times - Duration: 4:13.

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Master of Arts (Research on Islands and Small States) - Duration: 2:22.

I'm from the Bahamas

From Samoa

Closer to New Zealand and Australia

From Jamaica

From the Caribbean island

of St Vincent and the Grenadines

I'm from Mauritius,

very close to Madagascar

I come from Malta

currently living in Belgium

So what really prompt me to apply for the programme

was the fact that it was a multidisciplinary programme

and it looked at economic, social and environment aspects

of small islands and developing states.

The interest in learning

the geographical concepts surrounding islands states and small states around

The programme really resonates with us

because it gives us flexible learning

It provides a more holistic dynamic approach

to small islands, so it brings together

not just the geographical content

but we also learn about the political, the social, the economic

An opportunity as well which is great that the University is offering now

is distance learning opportunity

There are many lessons that Jamaica could learn from Malta

Malta is the guru, I suppose

of small islands studies

I'm interested in the tourism aspect

I see myself in the future of policy making

For someone who is aspiring to become an executive,

to become a leader

it provides me with the avenue, the tool that I need

It's very interesting from different backgrounds and specialisms

It's a great opportunity to be studying in this place

There's the issue of climate change

and what the country intends to do about climate change

I'll be doing something that I really like to do as well

That's why I love this, and that's why I chose the course.

For more infomation >> Master of Arts (Research on Islands and Small States) - Duration: 2:22.

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Trout fishing in the Four States - Duration: 5:28.

For more infomation >> Trout fishing in the Four States - Duration: 5:28.

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Steve Stricker Named United States 2020 Ryder Cup Captain at Whistling Straits - Duration: 0:56.

For more infomation >> Steve Stricker Named United States 2020 Ryder Cup Captain at Whistling Straits - Duration: 0:56.

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Trump ISIS wife wont be allowed to return to United States - Duration: 6:01.

Trump ISIS wife wont be allowed to return to United States

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Hoda Muthana was born in New Jersey. She wants to come home and face the U.S. justice system, her familys lawyer tells USA TODAY.

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WASHINGTON ľ President Donald Trump said Wednesday that an American woman who was the bride of an Islamic State fighter and now wants to come home will not be allowed back in the United States.

I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country! Trump wrote on Twitter.

Muthana traveled to Syria and marriedáand hadáa child with an ISIS fighter and now wants to face the U.S. justice system.

But Pompeo said earlier Wednesday that Muthanaáis not an American citizen and "does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport," contradictingástatements by her familyáand her Florida based lawyer, who said she was born ináHackensack, New Jersey, in 1994.á

I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!

Muthana, who was raised in Alabama, left the United Statesáto join ISISáfour years ago at ageá19. In Syria, she called for Americans to be attacked, and she spread the groupsápropaganda online.á

She is one of aboutá ľ the spouses and children of Islamic State militants ľáheld in a Kurdish run detention camp in northern Syria.á

Muthana is there with her 18 month old son.The childs father is not alive. Two of her previous husbands, both Islamic State militants, are also dead. Muthana is not allowed to leave the camp and has armed guards protecting her from Islamic State sympathizers.áShe is asking to be allowed to return to the U.S. to face due process.á

Start the day smarter:

"The government needs to engage with her, but not just her;áall of these people who joined ISIS" from the West, saidáHassan Shibly,áMuthanas lawyer.á

"If sheábroke the law, then the justice system can deal with her, and if she didnt break the law, she should come back anyway, so it can be determined if she is a threat."

This undated image provided by attorney Hassan Shibly shows Hoda Muthana, an Alabama woman who left home to join the Islamic State after becoming radicalized online. Muthana realized she was wrong and now wants to return to the United States, Shibly, a lawyer for her family said Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. Photo11: AP

Shibly said Muthana has realized she made a mistake in movingáto Syria andáwants to return to the USAáto face justice and "pay any debts she has to society." He said she wants to speak out against the Islamic State and help de radicalize other Americans.

Muthana abandoned her family and fled to Syria iná2014, a year after she graduated from high school. She briefly studied at the University of Alabama Birmingham.

Shibly shared a letteráMuthana wrote this week in which she describedáherselfáas "naive, angry and arrogant" when she decided to journey to Syria.á

"During my years in Syria, I would see and experience a way of life and the terrible effects of war, which changed me," Muthana wrote. "Seeing bloodshed up close changed me. Motherhood changed me. Seeing friends, children and the men I married dying changed me. Seeing how different a society could be compared to the beloved America I was born and raised into changed me."

Shibly, executive director of the Florida Council on American Islamic Relationsáin Tampa, said it was not clear from a legal standpoint whetheráMuthanas "marrying into ISIS" could warrant a "material support charge" to Islamic State activities, which range from terroráattacks in the USAáand Europeáto beheadings in Iraq and Syria.á

Alan Dershowitz, a former Harvard law professor, said that if he were advising Muthana, he would tell her that coming back to the USAáwould be "risky."áDershowitzátold the New York Post her case would be a "close call" even if all she did was tweet and send emails.

Muthana claimedáto have had no contact with U.S. authorities, and Shibly said she can leave the camp only if the U.S. government asks for her release. Its not clear if it has.áU.S. immigration authorities were not available to answer questions about her case, including whether a U.S. citizen can be barred from entering his or her own country.á

In a briefing, State Department spokesmanáRobert Palladinoáwould not address Muthanas specific case, but said repatriating foreign terrorist fighters to their countries of origin was theá"best solution to preventing them from returning to the battlefield."

Pompeo subsequently issued theástatement Wednesday in which he claimed that Muthana was not a U.S. citizen and would not be allowed back in.

Shibly, however, provided USA TODAYáwith a copy of Muthanas birth certificate, which lists her place of birth as Hackensack, New Jersey.

A birth certificate provided by Hoda Muthanas attorney lists her place of birth as Hackensack, N.J. Muthana traveled to Syria and married, but now wants to return to the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says shes not an American citizen. Photo11: Submitted

Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas, said that Pompeo cant just assert that someone born in the U.S.áis not a U.S. citizen.

"I gather that the governments argument is that she was born to a diplomat who was in the United States on official business, and so was not entitled to birthright citizenship. Thats correct as a matter of law if its true, but its not true just because the government says so," he said in a Twitter message to USA TODAY.á

Only six American militants have returned from fighting or training with militant groups in Syria, according to , a Washington based foreign policy research institute.

All were taken into custody. Muthana may be the first American spouse or partner of an Islamic Stateáfighter who has sought to return home. The New York Times has reported that another woman, dual U.S. Canadian nationaláKimberly Gwen Polman, 46, is also in the al hawl refugee camp in Syria. She left Canada in 2015.á

A similar case in , 19, from London, whoágave birth to a baby boy over the weekend in the same camp where Muthana is held.

Begum, who left Britain for Syria at age 15 and married an Islamic Stateáfighter,áwants to return to Britain for the sake of her childs welfare, but British authorities, including the nations interior minister, indicated they might try to block her return. They might find that difficult to do because a British national cant theoretically be prevented from returning home unless that personáis also a national of another country. Begumáisnt.

The womans London based lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, said Tuesday that the British governmentáinformed him that it is trying to strip Begum of her British citizenship.á

As for Muthana, "whether its a few years in jail, 20 years in jailáor no jail, shes open to the legal process, and shes not asking for a free pass, just due process," Shibly said.á