U.S. uses secretive terrorism court for the first time to deport Afghan woman
An Afghan woman living in Texas, whose son and son-in-law were convicted of plotting an ISIS-inspired mass shooting during the 2024 election, has been deported from the U.S. after being brought before a federal terrorism court which had never been used before.
Nazira Haji Zada, 47, who resided in Fort Worth, Texas, as a permanent resident, was brought before the U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC) in July after prosecutors alleged she had supported her son and son-in-law’s plot, even though she was never formally charged with a crime.
The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was created by Congress in 1996 and allows the government to rely on classified evidence in deportation cases. The court had never been used until now.
ATRC Chief Judge Joan N. Ericksen presided over the case and signed a removal order after Zada conceded that she is an alien terrorist and waived appeal of her deportation, according to the U.S. Justice Department. She has already been deported and is now permanently inadmissible to the U.S.
Zada’s son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, were convicted in a plot to carry out a deadly mass shooting during the 2024 election. To raise money for the attack, the family started selling furniture, computers, a mobile phone, and the family’s two vehicles, while Zada signed a contract to sell the family house. The family also purchased one-way tickets to Kabul, Afghanistan, except for the two men, who admitted they were planning to die in the attack.
“Zada supported her sons’ terrorist plot to attack the United States while she enjoyed the privilege of residing here as a resident alien,” John A. Eisenberg, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said in a statement on Friday. “She abused our Nation’s hospitality and represented a clear threat to our national security. The United States is a safer place now that her sons are in custody and she has been deported.”
Matthew Farley, a public defender who represented Zada, accused the court of violating his client’s due process rights and said her choice to consent to deportation should not be seen as an endorsement of the 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,” Farley said, according to Reuters. “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.”
The Justice Department confirmed that classified information was used to establish that Zada is a terrorist but added that approximately half a terabyte of documents supporting the government’s case were provided to her lawyers. It’s unclear whether the Justice Department plans to use the secretive court again in the near future.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
