--- title: Ted Cruz Wants to Strip American Citizenship from ISIS Fighters description: As westerners traveling to fight with the group raise alarm canonical: https://time.com/3303531/senator-ted-cruz-american-terrorists-citizenship-bill/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-08T14:53:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:43.636Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ted Cruz Wants to Strip American Citizenship from ISIS Fighters og:description: As westerners traveling to fight with the group raise alarm og:url: https://time.com/3303531/senator-ted-cruz-american-terrorists-citizenship-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42ad9c3a91e4e24c/6986a25506f2c1aa813309ca/ted-cruz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pauses as he addresses attendees at the 2014 Red State Gathering on Aug. 8, 2014, in Fort Worth, Texas. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ted Cruz Wants to Strip American Citizenship from ISIS Fighters twitter:description: As westerners traveling to fight with the group raise alarm twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42ad9c3a91e4e24c/6986a25506f2c1aa813309ca/ted-cruz.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cruz Floats Bill to Revoke Citizenship of Americans Who Fight for ISIS > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS [Watch (HLS stream): Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8) (2:58)  _Published 2014-09-05. A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?_ by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Sep 8, 2014 2:53 PM UTC  U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pauses as he addresses attendees at the 2014 Red State Gathering on Aug. 8, 2014, in Fort Worth, Texas. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pauses as he addresses attendees at the 2014 Red State Gathering on Aug. 8, 2014, in Fort Worth, Texas. Tony Gutierrez—AP by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Sep 8, 2014 2:53 PM UTC Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will introduce legislation Monday designed to strip U.S. citizenship from Americans who join Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq. The new legislation, titled the [Expatriate Terrorists Act](http://www.cruz.senate.gov/files/documents/Bills/20140905%5FExpatriate%5FTerrorist%5FAct.pdf), would change the conditions for stripping U.S. citizenship to include becoming a member of, fighting for, or providing “material assistance” to a “designated foreign terrorist organization” that the citizen has reason to believe will terrorize the United States. The militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) has captured broad swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria, has publicly beheaded Western journalists and has also attracted some western fighters to its side. “Americans who choose to go to Syria or Iraq to fight with vicious ISIS terrorists are party to a terrorist organization committing horrific acts of violence, including beheading innocent American journalists who they have captured,” Cruz said in a statement. “There can be no clearer renunciation of their citizenship in the United States, and we need to do everything we can to preempt any attempt on their part to re-enter our country and carry out further attacks on American civilians.” President Barack Obama has intensified U.S. airstrikes against the group’s fighters in Iraq and [indicated](http://time.com/3294956/u-s-strikes-in-iraq-against-jihadists-moving-west-toward-syria/) Sunday that he thinks he has the executive authority to increase American military efforts against the group in Syria. Obama will meet with top congressional leaders on Tuesday to discuss his options to counter ISIS, and will outline his plans to the public on Wednesday. ## Transcript The Islamic state of Iraq and greater Syria is quickly making a name for itself as one of the most ruthless militias in the Middle East. But the extremist group is also making headlines for its successful recruitment of Western volunteers. Hundreds of fighters from at least 50 different countries and known to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to wage war under the ISIS flag. Here's a close look at how the group is recruiting them. And [ UNKNOWN ] says that what gives you life is Jihad. I know by a law that this the land of Jihad. We have brothers from Bangladesh, from Iraq, from Cambodia, Australia, UK. Nothing has has [ INAUDIBLE ] In one video posted on YouTube, new recruits are enticed to respond to the call of jihad by a fighter who's filmed walking down stairs. Of a four star hotel in the town of Kasab in northwestern Syria. [ FOREIGN ] The fighter tells recruits they can sleep there for free. ISIS also tweeted, during the World Cup, with the hashtag WorldCup2014. In an attempt to steer soccer fans to the group's sleekly produced propaganda. ISIS initially portrayed itself as being part of a humanitarian effort to back fellow Sunni Muslims in the Syrian civil war. That promise of a fight to protect Muslim brothers and sisters, is a powerful draw for some Western recruits. But in reality, ISIS has been targeting Sunnis as well as Shia Muslims, and other religious minorities in its campaign to control territory. [ MUSIC ] Isis also accomplished something Al- queda has never been able to achieve. It has declared self styled Islamic palafite in an area that spans parts of Iraq and Syria. And it's apparent ability to create some sort of stability in a war zone has proved attracted to some western Muslims. ISIS makes a particular effort to be welcoming to foreigners. ISIS normally accepts any Muslim into its ranks whereas some other Islamist groups in Syria ask for fighters to align with their specific ideology. For these young, restless foreigners. Isis can appear to offer a sense of mission. 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