DOJ Tapped Never-Used ‘Alien Terrorist’ Court to Deport Mother of Convicted ISIS Supporter

The Trump administration’s decision to activate a never-before-used “alien terrorist” deportation court was triggered by an effort to remove the spouse of an Iraqi-Afghan man who worked for the U.S. military and was admitted to the United States in 2018.

In newly unsealed documents posted online by the previously dormant “Alien Terrorist Removal Court,” the Trump administration accuses the woman, Nazira Haji Zada — a lawful permanent resident admitted as a lawful permanent resident with her husband — of pledging loyalty to ISIS and radicalizing her children.

Haji Zada, 47, had planned to relocate to Afghanistan with her siblings — though not with her “unsuspecting” husband — while her son and son-in-law carried out a “mass casualty” attack in the U.S. on Election Day 2024, administration officials allege in the new filings. Those allegations were drawn from a 2024 criminal case against Haji Zada’s son-in-law, Nasir Tawhedi, after, officials said, the plot was foiled.

One of Haji Zada’s sons, Abdullah Haji Zada, pleaded guilty last year in federal court in Oklahoma to attempting to provide material support to ISIS and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Tawhedi entered a guilty plea last year to similar charges in connection with the same plot. He is awaiting sentencing and is under court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.

Nazira Zada’s husband, Abdul, worked for the U.S. government on Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Force Base from 2009 to 2016, and FBI investigators say he was unaware of his wife, son and son-in-law’s purported plans to assist ISIS and relocate to ISIS-controlled territory.

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ICE officials urging the special court to grant Nazira Haji Zada’s deportation say efforts to deport her through traditional immigration courts would not suffice. Zada has no criminal history, they note, and is in the country legally on a green card. So, they turned to the Alien Terrorist Removal Court — a tribunal that has existed on paper since 1996 but has never been activated by any administration. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche approved the unprecedented effort on June 30.

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