# Americans fighting for ISIS **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 27, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-fighting-for-isis/696653 "2014-08-27T17:19:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-fighting-for-isis/696653/1 "2014-08-27T17:19:20Z")
[Link.](http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/27/world/meast/syria-american-killed/index.html?hpt=hp_t1) Are these individuals allowed back in the US? Do their families have the rights to any remains for burial? Would captured or returning fighters be subject to charges of treason? What about their citizenship? I know there are no simple answers, just curious. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-fighting-for-isis/696653/2 "2014-08-27T17:49:26Z")
I keep hearing that one of our biggest fears is that they could return to the US and cause trouble, which leads me to believe that they can return as long as they have valid passports. However, since they are working with a terrorist organization I assume they would be put on a watch list. I suppose they could stop them at the airport, but they would have to be able to charge them with a crime in order to hold them. Is just associating with a terrorist organization a crime in the US? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-fighting-for-isis/696653/3 "2014-08-27T18:14:29Z")
The big problem is identifying them, and _proving_ that they have done anything criminal. They are not likely to return direct, but will fly via Paris or Mumbai or anywhere they can. We have the same problem in the UK and it is a big concern. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-fighting-for-isis/696653/4 "2014-08-27T19:51:40Z")
Yeah, the problem is the ones that aren’t on a watch list because the government doesn’t know they’ve hooked up with ISIS. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-fighting-for-isis/696653/5 "2014-08-27T20:00:03Z")
As for some of the other issues, I doubt the US government will make much of an effort to recover the bodies of any of these guys. They might get a DNA sample for identification purposes, but after that they’ll most likely end up being buried by either their ISIS buddies or the Syrian/Iraqi forces. Any that are captured would face some sort of terrorism charges, but I think “treason” requires a formal declaration of war, so that’s probably not on the table. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-fighting-for-isis/696653/6 "2014-08-27T20:48:04Z")
In Balkan War III — or Balkan Wars Redux — so popular in the 1990s, many foreign volunteers joined all sides. Were any Americans involved prosecuted on return ? [Or the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War ? Who weren’t especially popular with the Spanish in whose side they were fighting… The British communists rounded up drunk homeless guys and shipped them over, where they awoke with hangovers and rifles in their hands. They weren’t very dedicated fighters, but the communist reasoning was that it gave meaning to their wasted lives.] Be kind of difficult to prosecute since joining foreign armies isn’t against the law. In fact it was a very popular pastime for younger sons in the 1890s, etc., some of whom dabbled in a succession of conflicts. The British government forbade it during the First Carlist ( and Miguelist, probably ) despite the British establishment’s fondness for the liberal usurping sides; but I don’t think they ever made it stick. In the Balkan Wars, I found this **[thread](http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php/13719-Foregin-Volunteers-in-the-Yugoslav-Wars?)**, and from there a wiki on **[Foreign fighters in the Bosnian War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_fighters_in_the_Bosnian_War)** But only specific war crimes seem to be mentioned as prosecuted by anyone. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-fighting-for-isis/696653/7 "2014-08-28T00:35:51Z")
Some number of young pilots went to fly in other air forces before the US entered WWII ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-fighting-for-isis/696653/8 "2014-08-28T00:46:48Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > [Link.](http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/27/world/meast/syria-american-killed/index.html?hpt=hp_t1) > > Are these individuals allowed back in the US? Do their families have the rights to any remains for burial? Would captured or returning fighters be subject to charges of treason? What about their citizenship? > > I know there are no simple answers, just curious. > > Thanks. Did we already forget about [John Walker Lindh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_Lindh#Trial)? Also about the citizenship question: [http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-and-dual-nationality/citizenship-and-foreign-military-service.html](http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-and-dual-nationality/citizenship-and-foreign-military-service.html) Basically, they don’t normally lose nationality unless proven that they joined up with the intent of losing their US nationality (how that’s legally argued, I don’t know), or serves as an officer. Most likely they’ll just be sent to Gitmo and charged with various assisting terrorist crimes.