An Afghan woman living in Texas became the first person deported through a newly activated secret court last month, after a judge determined she fit the description of an “alien terrorist,” according to newly unsealed documents.
The FBI accused Nazira Haji Zada of being a radical Islamist who supported a plot to commit an ISIS-inspired mass shooting with her family, which had relocated to the United States after her husband assisted the U.S. war effort back in their home country. The Justice Department in July activated the Alien Terrorist Removal Court for the first time in the court’s 30-year existence to seek her removal from the U.S.
She was not charged with a crime, but investigators said that she helped her son and son-in-law plan an attack during the 2024 general election — one that turned out to be a federal sting operation.
U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen of Minnesota — one of five jurists on the terrorist removal court — issued an order on Aug. 20 that stripped Haji Zada of her American residency status, deemed her “an alien terrorist,” deported her to Afghanistan and rendered her permanently inadmissible to the United States.
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She was deported five days later, according to a court filing by prosecutors. Haji Zada, through her federal defender attorney, conceded to her removal on the condition that the accusations not be used against her in a criminal case.
The documents were unsealed Thursday but posted on Friday, as the nation observed the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Her removal from the country shows how the Justice Department could use the terrorist removal court to brand someone a terrorist without affording them the opportunity to view the evidence the government claims to have against them.
Haji Zada’s attorneys, federal defenders Matthew Farley and Mary Petras, said in a statement that her “choice to consent to removal should not be seen as an endorsement of this court’s legitimacy.”
“Dragging lawful permanent residents into court but refusing to show them or their attorneys the evidence that will be used against them is a plain violation of due process,” the attorneys said. “We are confident that the Alien Terrorist Removal Court will be struck down as unconstitutional as soon as a judge is asked to address the issue.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche, in a statement, called it a “landmark case” and added that “the ATRC shows how the [DOJ] will use every tool at its disposal to protect our country.” FBI Director Kash Patel issued a statement saying that federal law enforcement is now “using all means necessary” to protect the country from the threat of terrorism.
The ATRC, which was created by Congress in 1996, remained dormant until this year. Its existence and method of operation — unlike a typical criminal court, it doesn’t need to follow due process laws — worry legal experts who have called its constitutionality into question.
Alfred Wolin, the only living jurist who was among the first batch of judges to sit on the court, told The Washington Sun earlier this summer that even he was confused about how exactly the process would work.
Haji Zada spent several weeks listed as “Inmate 400151” at a D.C. jail as the case proceeded largely behind closed doors.
Her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, were previously convicted of charges related to the planned attack. Her son was 17 at the time of his arrest in 2024 and is currently listed as an inmate at a medium-security federal prison in California, with an expected release date in 2037. Tawhedi pleaded guilty last year but has not yet been sentenced.
This case also included the State Department, immigration enforcement, and the DOJ’s National Security Division to coordinate the deportation.
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