Justice Department uses Alien Terrorist Removal Court to deport permanent resident to Afghanistan
Nazira Haji Zada, a lawful permanent resident, consented to removal in the first case heard by the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, after prosecutors linked her to an ISIS-inspired plot involving her son and son-in-law.
The Justice Department brought the first case before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a special tribunal created in 1996, to deport Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old lawful permanent resident from Afghanistan. Court filings allege she supported a plan by her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, to carry out an Islamic State-inspired mass shooting on Election Day 2024. Both men have been charged and face deportation after serving prison sentences; Abdullah received a 15-year term.
Haji Zada was arrested in July in Fort Worth, Texas, and waived her right to challenge the detention in an unsealed filing dated Aug. 20. Senior U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen ordered her removal the same day. Her admission will not be used in criminal proceedings, and the evidence supporting the removal remains classified for national-security reasons.
Her court-appointed attorneys, Matthew Farley and Mary Manning Petras, argued that the proceedings violate due process because they were denied access to the evidence. In a statement they said the client’s consent “should not be seen as an endorsement of this court’s legitimacy” and that the court is likely to be found unconstitutional.
"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 wrote.
The government alleges Haji Zada acted as the family “matriarch,” radicalizing members and pledging loyalty to ISIS, while also helping raise funds for the plot by selling personal property. Tawhedi pleaded guilty to two terrorism-related charges, admitting he conspired to purchase firearms and ammunition for the attack.
Attorney General Todd Blanche, who approved the application, said the case demonstrates the department’s willingness to use all available tools to protect the country and called the removal a “win for national security and the rule of law.”