The recent capture of two American citizens, one from Houston, among Islamic State forces fighting in Syria is a stark reminder of the global nature of the conflict there and the recruiting powers of ISIS and other terrorist organizations.
But it's also an opportunity to set a precedent that recognizes the right to due process for any American citizen apprehended in a foreign land and accused of taking up arms against the U.S. or, as in this case, a U.S.-backed militia.
In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld that the U.S. government can designate a U.S. citizen or a foreign national as an "enemy combatant" and hold that individual as long as there are "ongoing hostilities"-a nebulous concept in a seemingly endless war on terror.
But in Hamdi the high court also ruled that any U.S. citizen designated an enemy combatant has both the right to due process challenging that designation and the right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
The Texan recently captured in Syria is Warren Christopher Clark, a 34-year-old University of Houston graduate identified in a 2018 report by George Washington University's Project on Extremism as an American attempting to join the Islamic State. Captured by Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed militia comprised mainly of Kurdish fighters, Clark is a U.S. citizen and should be repatriated as soon as possible and granted the rights guaranteed all U.S. citizens under the Constitution, including due process and habeas corpus.
As Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney with the ACLU's Center for Democracy, recently told us: "If the government has evidence that he committed a crime, and it wishes to incapacitate him, it should then transfer him to the U.S. and charge him in a federal court. That's the tried and true method of dealing with suspected terrorists who violate the law. What it absolutely should not do is seek to have him rendered to another country illegally or to hold him in a lawless status."
All American citizens apprehended overseas for supporting acts of terrorism or treason should be repatriated to the U.S. and tried in federal court. Indeed, that's the ideal solution for any alleged foreign terrorist or enemy combatant apprehended in Syria or elsewhere-to be repatriated to their home country and tried in a legitimate court of law.
The ongoing war on terror may require tough measures at times, but the first step in preserving our values is to live by them.
The Dallas Morning News