An Afghan woman became the first subject of the long-dormant Alien Terrorist Removal Court and was deported after agreeing not to contest removal, the Justice Department said Friday, according to reporting carried by Headline USA and adapted from the Associated Press.
What DOJ says happened
The Justice Department said Nazira Haji Zada, 47, was arrested in July at her home in Fort Worth, Texas, and brought before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC) on a DOJ application to deport her. The department said she waived her rights to challenge her detention and agreed to be deported to Afghanistan. Court filings, including a removal order dated Aug. 20, remained under seal until after she reached her destination, according to the reports.
A DOJ statement described Haji Zada as a supporter of the Islamic State and identified her as the mother and mother-in-law of two Afghan men convicted in Oklahoma of plotting an attack in the U.S. on Election Day 2024. The plans were foiled before any attack took place, according to the reporting. Her lawyers had pressed the court to require DOJ to share information and evidence supporting the allegations.
Defense pushback
Haji Zada’s attorneys said her consent to removal “should not be seen as an endorsement of this court’s legitimacy.” They argued that using a process in which the government withholds evidence from the defense violates due process and predicted the ATRC would be struck down as unconstitutional when reviewed by a judge.
A rarely used court revived
The ATRC was created in 1996 but, according to the reports, received no petitions until July. It conducts deportation proceedings for individuals the Justice Department classifies as “alien terrorists” and is composed of five federal judges from different districts appointed by the U.S. chief justice.
On July 30, Judge Joan Ericksen presided over the first hearing in the court’s first case. At that hearing, an attorney for Haji Zada argued that the Trump administration’s activation of the court violated her constitutional rights and urged her immediate release, according to the reports.
Related convictions cited by prosecutors
An FBI memo dated July 15 stated the bureau “developed information” that Haji Zada supports the Islamic State and had her children pledge loyalty to the group, according to the reporting. Her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, was sentenced in November to 15 years in prison and previously agreed to be removed from the U.S. after his release, court records show. Her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, who had worked as a security guard for an American military installation in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty to conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State. Prosecutors said he ordered AK-47 rifles, liquidated family assets, and bought one-way tickets for his wife and child to return to Afghanistan.
Officials’ statements
According to the reports, a Justice Department statement quoted “Attorney General Todd Blanche” calling the case outcome “a win for national security and the rule of law” and saying the department would use every tool available to protect the country. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, “Those who plot acts of terrorism against the United States have no place in our country. We will find them, and we will use every lawful tool available to remove them.”
What remains sealed—and what’s next
The underlying filings in Haji Zada’s deportation case were kept under seal until after her arrival in Afghanistan, the reports noted. The defense maintains the ATRC’s secrecy violates due process, while DOJ officials have framed the swift removal as a national security measure. Key details—what evidence was presented to the court, how the court weighed classified material, and the timeline of the court’s activation—remain unclear based on the publicly available information.
