A 47-year-old lawful U.S. resident accused of helping her family plot an ISIS-inspired Election Day mass shooting has been deported to Afghanistan, the first person ever removed through a secretive federal court created three decades ago.
Nazira Haji Zada, an Afghan-born green card holder living in Fort Worth, Texas, conceded in court filings that she qualified as an "alien terrorist" and waived her right to challenge detention or appeal, NPR reported from unsealed court records dated August 20. Senior U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen ordered her removal the same day.
The case marks the first time the Justice Department has ever brought a proceeding before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a tribunal Congress established in 1996 under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. For nearly thirty years, the court sat unused, its constitutionality questioned, its powers untested. Attorney General Todd Blanche approved the government's application himself before it reached the judge.
Federal authorities described Haji Zada as the "matriarch" of a family that had pledged loyalty to ISIS and worked to radicalize its own members. Her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 28, admitted in a guilty plea that between June and October 2024 he conspired with at least one other person to buy two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition, and 10 magazines, all aimed at carrying out a mass-casualty attack on Election Day 2024.
Court documents say Tawhedi communicated directly with an ISIS facilitator about the plan, at one point asking "whether 500 rounds of ammunition would be sufficient."
Haji Zada's 19-year-old son, Abdullah Haji Zada, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy. Tawhedi pleaded guilty to two terrorism-related charges. Both men will be deported to Afghanistan after serving their sentences.
To bankroll the plot, the family allegedly sold furniture, computers, a mobile phone, and two vehicles. Haji Zada signed a contract to sell the family's home. She and other female relatives, along with younger male family members, planned to relocate to an ISIS-controlled area before the attack, hiding the entire scheme from her "unsuspecting husband," who had worked at Bagram Air Base, the last major American military installation in Afghanistan, from 2009 to 2016.
Haji Zada arrived in the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2018. Her son and son-in-law would have stayed behind to carry out the shooting.
The Alien Terrorist Removal Court operates under rules sharply different from ordinary immigration or criminal proceedings. It allows the government to present classified evidence that neither the accused nor their attorneys are permitted to review. The standard of proof is lower than in a criminal trial. Five federal judges, appointed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, compose the panel.
Government filings stated the evidence supporting Haji Zada's removal remains classified because disclosing it would pose a risk to national security. Her court-appointed attorneys, Matthew Farley and Mary Manning Petras, contested the court's legitimacy in filings and issued a pointed statement afterward:
"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."
They added that they 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." Haji Zada's consent to removal, they said, "should not be seen as an endorsement of this court's legitimacy."
By agreeing to deportation, Haji Zada avoided a prolonged legal fight that could have forced a federal court to rule on the tribunal's constitutional standing. Her admission in the terrorism court will not be used against her in any criminal proceeding.
Attorney General Blanche framed the case as proof that the administration will act aggressively against terrorism-linked individuals living on American soil. In a statement reported by the Washington Examiner, Blanche said the court's use shows "how the Department will use every tool at its disposal to protect our country."
"This landmark case, resulting in the prompt removal of this alien terrorist to her country of origin, is a win for national security and the rule of law."
FBI Director Kash Patel called the deportation "a historic and vitally important step in our work to protect the U.S. homeland from terrorism," Breitbart reported.
In an earlier statement tied to the initial filing, Blanche was more direct about the family's alleged loyalties: "The allegations in this case show the matriarch of an ISIS-sympathizing family aiding in a plot to launch a mass casualty attack on American voters on Election Day." He added that Congress "created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court three decades ago to remove from the United States alien terrorists who never should have been here in the first place."
Congress built the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 1996 precisely for cases like this, situations where the government possesses intelligence too sensitive for open court but needs a legal mechanism to expel foreign nationals tied to terrorism. For three decades, every administration passed it over. Civil liberties groups questioned whether a court that shields its evidence from the accused could survive a constitutional challenge. No one ever found out, because no one ever tried.
Now, the court has its first completed case. And the speed of the resolution, arrest in July, hearing in late July, removal order by August 20, suggests the government moved to close the matter before a drawn-out fight over due process could develop. Haji Zada's attorneys plainly signaled they believe the court will fall when someone refuses to consent. That question remains unanswered.
Several open questions linger. The identity of the ISIS facilitator Tawhedi communicated with has not been disclosed. The nature of the classified evidence remains unknown. Tawhedi's sentencing date following his guilty plea has not been publicly announced. And the status of other family members who allegedly planned to flee to ISIS-controlled territory is unclear.
Just the News noted that the family had purchased a one-way ticket for Haji Zada to fly to Kabul with the children before the planned shooting, a detail that underscores the level of advance planning prosecutors attributed to the conspiracy.
For thirty years, Congress gave the Justice Department a tool designed to remove foreign terrorists from American soil without compromising classified intelligence. It took a family in Fort Worth allegedly selling off its furniture to fund an ISIS massacre for anyone to finally use it. The only remaining question is whether the next defendant will fight, and whether the court can survive the scrutiny.
