WASHINGTON — A man believed to be an American citizen who was fighting with Islamic State militants has surrendered in Syria and is now in U.S. custody, raising questions about how the Trump administration will deal with such detainee cases.
Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, said the man surrendered to Syrian Democratic forces around Tuesday and was turned over to U.S. military force in Syria. Rankine-Galloway said the man is being legally detained as a known enemy combatant.
The decision to legally detain the man as a "known enemy combatant" comes as the Trump administration has been working to craft a detention policy, which could determine whether the U.S. will resume sending detainees to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. President Barack Obama did not send any new detainees to Guantanamo and the currently there are only about 40 there. Trump has expressed a willingness to send new detainees there, but so far has not.