President Trump’s Justice Department just made history with a national-security court that had been sitting unused for three decades.

Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old Afghan national who lived in Fort Worth, Texas, has been removed from the United States after conceding that she is an alien terrorist.

She is now permanently barred from returning.

Attorney General Todd Blanche explained how the department used the long-dormant court — and made clear this first case will not be the last:

The U.S. Department of Justice says Haji Zada supported her son and son-in-law as they prepared an ISIS-inspired mass shooting for Election Day 2024.

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Her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, were arrested after buying two AK-47-style rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition and ten magazines from an undercover FBI employee.

Tawhedi admitted that the pair intended to carry out a mass-casualty attack on or around November 5, 2024, on behalf of ISIS. According to the criminal complaint summarized by DOJ, he even asked an ISIS facilitator whether 500 rounds would be enough.

The family had begun selling its property, including furniture, computers, a phone and two vehicles. Haji Zada signed a contract to sell the family home, while the family bought one-way tickets to Kabul for several relatives — but not for the two men accused in the planned attack.

Abdullah pleaded guilty as an adult and received a 15-year prison sentence. Tawhedi pleaded guilty to terrorism-related offenses and is awaiting sentencing.

The department’s official announcement laid out the result and the threat behind the case:

Congress created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 1996, but no administration had ever brought a case before it.

The specialized court is staffed by Article III federal judges appointed to the tribunal by the Chief Justice of the United States. It allows the government to present classified information when public disclosure would endanger national security, while providing counsel when necessary and preserving an appeal route to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The redacted Alien Terrorist Removal Court case file shows that the Justice Department’s application was certified by Blanche and opened as Case No. 2026-TRC-1.

The application asked the court to find Haji Zada removable under federal law because the government alleged she supported ISIS, helped radicalize members of her family and backed the planned Election Day attack.

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The public filing includes an unclassified FBI summary alongside sealed national-security material. It also identifies the statutory process Congress created to protect intelligence sources while allowing a federal judge to test the government’s case.

Chief Judge Joan N. Ericksen presided over Haji Zada’s first open-court appearance on July 30 and later signed the removal order.

The order was issued on August 20 and unsealed Friday after Haji Zada had been returned to Afghanistan.

DOJ said the government used classified evidence to establish its case and also gave Haji Zada and her federal public defenders roughly half a terabyte of supporting documents.

With her lawyers, she conceded that she is an alien terrorist, waived appeal and terminated her previous immigration status.

Blanche called the outcome a victory for national security and the rule of law. His public statement drove home the administration’s position:

FBI Director Kash Patel said Haji Zada betrayed the country after supporting an attack plot by ISIS-sympathizing relatives. He pledged that the FBI and Justice Department would use every available means to protect Americans from terrorism.

The operation also involved the Justice Department’s National Security Division, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

President Trump directed the administration to use this lawful national-security tool, and his team followed through. A court that existed on paper for 30 years finally produced a result: the woman who admitted supporting an ISIS-inspired Election Day attack plot is out of the country and cannot come back.

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Blanche’s promise to use the court again should get the attention of anyone who supports terrorism while taking advantage of the privilege of living in the United States.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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