The US Justice Department has for the first time activated a 30-year-old special court mechanism to deport a person allegedly linked to terrorism. The Trump administration petitioned the Alien Terrorist Removal Court to remove Afghan national Nazira Haji Zada from the country, who is accused of aiding an ISIS-linked Election Day attack plot.
According to court records, Haji Zada, who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, is the first person to be sought for deportation through this method. The court will hold its first hearing on Thursday in Washington to consider the government's petition.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement, "The allegations in this case show that the head of an ISIS-sympathizing family aided a plot for a mass attack on American voters on Election Day. The Department's petition to this court makes clear that terrorists have no place in the United States."
According to an FBI memo dated July 15, information was obtained that Haji Zada supported ISIS and had her children pledge allegiance to the terrorist organization. It was stated that Haji Zada 'supported' her family members' plan to carry out an ISIS-inspired attack in the US.
In court filings, Haji Zada was identified as the mother and mother-in-law of two Afghan men convicted in Oklahoma in connection with the 2024 Election Day terror plot. Her son Abdullah Haji Zada was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November and agreed to be deported after serving his sentence.
Her son-in-law Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi had previously worked as a security guard at a US military facility in Afghanistan. Tawhedi pleaded guilty to conspiracy and attempt to provide material support to ISIS. Prosecutors said Tawhedi tried to advance the attack plans by ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his family's assets, and buying one-way tickets to Afghanistan for his wife and child.
The Alien Terrorist Removal Court, established in 1996, reviews government petitions to remove individuals designated as 'alien terrorists' when the grounds for deportation involve classified information. The court consists of five federal judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and will, for now, hold all its hearings at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington.
