Afghan Woman Becomes First Person Deported Through US Alien Terrorist Removal Court

The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was established in 1996 but had never been invoked until Nazira Haji Zada’s case.

12 Sep 2026

An Afghan woman accused of supporting the ISIL (ISIS) militant group has been deported from the United States in the first case ever brought before a little-known federal court created three decades ago to remove individuals designated by the government as “alien terrorists.”

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that Nazira Haji Zada was deported to Afghanistan after being brought before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court.

The 47-year-old lawful permanent resident, who had been residing in Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested in 2024. US Attorney General Todd Blanche filed the paperwork for her removal on July 15 of this year. She waived her right to challenge her detention and was subsequently deported to Afghanistan.

The DOJ accused Haji Zada of helping to conceal an ISIL-inspired plot to carry out a mass shooting in the US state of Oklahoma on election day in 2024. She was never charged with a crime, but her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, pleaded guilty to related charges.

The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was created by Congress in 1996 as part of a broader initiative to combat international terrorism. It is a specialised US federal court composed of five judges serving staggered five-year terms. The court permits the US government to submit classified information in cases where disclosure could compromise national security, while requiring an unclassified summary sufficient for the accused to prepare a defence. The government must demonstrate with compelling evidence that the individual is an “alien terrorist.”

Defence attorneys argued that bringing lawful permanent residents before the court while withholding evidence violated due process and predicted the court would ultimately be ruled unconstitutional.

DOJ officials characterised the deportation as a national security success.

“Those who support and condone terrorism should not be living in the United States,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said, adding that the case demonstrated the department would employ “every tool at its disposal” to safeguard the country.

Haji Zada’s attorneys said her decision to consent to removal “should not be interpreted as an endorsement of this court’s legitimacy.”

“Presenting lawful permanent residents to a court while refusing to show them or their attorneys the evidence used against them is a clear violation of due process,” the defence lawyers said in a statement. “We are confident that the Alien Terrorist Removal Court will be struck down as unconstitutional once a judge is asked to address the issue.”

It remains unclear whether the DOJ will pursue additional cases through the previously unused court.

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