Secretive US court meant to deport alleged terrorists hears first case

A secretive US court created in 1996 to deport suspected terrorists convened for the first time on Thursday, hearing the case of Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old lawful permanent resident accused of supporting Islamic State and helping conceal a failed Election Day 2024 mass shooting plot. The Alien Terrorist Removal Court allows the government to rely on classified evidence, which the defense argues violates due process.

A secretive US court created 30 years ago to deport suspected terrorists convened for the first time on Thursday, opening a new front in the Trump administration's effort to remove non-citizens accused of national security threats. The hearing, before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, was open to the public and centered on Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old lawful permanent resident accused of supporting Islamic State and helping conceal a failed Election Day 2024 mass shooting plot. Prosecutors say much of the evidence against the Texas woman cannot be publicly disclosed. Established by Congress in 1996, the court allows the government to rely on classified evidence in deportation cases, a process Haji Zada's lawyer argued violates due process protections. Haji Zada, who was in the Washington federal courtroom, has not been charged with any crimes, but her son and son-in-law pleaded guilty to related charges last year. Her attorney quickly asked the court's chief judge, Joan Ericksen, to dismiss the case and immediately release his client. Ericksen denied the request. The FBI arrested Haji Zada at her Fort Worth home on Tuesday. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that the allegations show 'the matriarch of an ISIS-sympathizing family aiding in a plot to launch a mass casualty attack on American voters on Election Day.' The court's lack of prior cases was evident as the judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers spent part of the proceeding resolving basic procedural questions. It was unclear when the next hearing would take place.