Crime · updated 2h ago · 3 min read
Todd Blanche Filed Alien Terrorist Removal Court Case Deporting Nazira Haji Zada to Afghanistan
Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old Afghan permanent resident, was deported to Afghanistan. First-ever use of the Alien Terrorist Removal Court to remove a noncitizen.
Whether secret evidence mainly violates due process or protects national securi….
8 of 10 outlets skipped it: ATRC order signed Aug 20, and removed Aug 25.
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Same story, two versions
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Al Jazeera
“The defence said that bringing lawful permanent residents before a court while withholding the evidence against them violated due process”Read the original ↗
NPR
“The evidence supporting the removal remains classified, the government said in court documents, because it poses a risk to national security.”Read the original ↗
Al Jazeera leads with due-process objections, while NPR stresses the classified-evidence national-security rationale.
First ATRC Deportation
Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old Afghan woman living in Fort Worth, Texas, was deported to Afghanistan after she conceded she qualified as an “alien terrorist” in the first case heard by the U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court.
“Federal authorities deported a 47-year-old Afghan woman”
The Justice Department said Attorney General Todd Blanche filed the application on July 15, 2026, and ATRC Chief Judge Joan N. Ericksen signed an agreed order of judicial removal on August 20, 2026.
Officials from the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services took custody of Zada on August 25, 2026, and removed her for transport to Afghanistan, where she arrived the next day.
The case centered on an ISIS-inspired mass shooting plot tied to Zada’s son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, whom federal agents arrested on October 7, 2024 after they purchased two AK-47-style rifles, 10 magazines and 500 rounds of ammunition from an undercover FBI employee.
Blanche and Defense Clash
Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the deportation as a national security win, saying, “Those who support and condone terrorism should not be living in the United States,” and describing the case as “a win for national security and the rule of law.”
The defense, however, said Zada’s consent “should not be seen as an endorsement of this court’s legitimacy,” and argued that “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.”
NPR reported that court-appointed attorneys Matthew Farley and Mary Manning Petras contested the constitutionality of the case and said they were “not permitted to review evidence,” while the government said the evidence supporting removal remains classified because it poses a risk to national security.N
NPR also reported that Senior U.S. NDistrict Judge Joan Ericksen ordered Zada’s removal on Aug. 20 after unsealed filings showed she waived her rights to challenge detention and agreed to deportation.
Plot, Sentences, and Bar
In the related criminal case, Tawhedi pleaded guilty in June 2025 to conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS and to a firearms offense connected to a federal crime of terrorism, while Abdullah Haji Zada pleaded guilty as an adult and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk on November 19, 2025 to the statutory maximum of 15 years in federal prison.
“Zada conceded that she qualified as an alien terrorist and waived her right to appeal”
The Justice Department said Abdullah also agreed to a judicial removal order that will send him to Afghanistan after he completes his sentence, and it reported that Zada’s order terminated her lawful permanent resident status and permanently barred her from admission to the United States.
NPR reported that the court proceedings were civil rather than criminal, and that Zada’s admission will not be used in criminal proceedings even as the government relied on classified information to support the removal request.N
The Hill said court filings unsealed Friday accused Zada of having “worked to indoctrinate her children with ISIS ideology and have them pledge loyalty to ISIS,” and it reported that the unsealed record described her as permanently barred from ever entering the U.S. again.