Afghan Woman in Texas Dubbed an “Alien Terrorist” Is Deported in DOJ’s First Case Using Obscure Court

An Afghan permanent resident living in Texas has been deported after the Justice Department accused her of being an “alien terrorist,” in the first such case of its kind, the department announced on Friday.

Nazira Haji Zada, 47, opted to leave the United States rather than continue litigating the case in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, the department said.

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Public defenders representing Haji Zada had initially indicated she intended to fight the government’s efforts to deport her, saying the court’s secretive rules violated her due process rights.

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Haji Zada has never been charged with a crime. However, her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, were both prosecuted and convicted over a plot to commit an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day in 2024.

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The Justice Department said on Friday that it had shared half a terabyte of documents with her lawyers in support of its evidence that she is an alien terrorist. Haji Zada “conceded that she is an alien terrorist and waived appeal of the removal order, terminating her previous status,” the department said in a press release.

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