The U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday that it used the Alien Terrorist Removal Court to secure a deportation order against an Afghan national who helped plot a thwarted mass-casualty attack on Election Day in 2024.
The case was the first-ever to appear before the court, which was established in 1996.
“This is a historic and vitally important step in our work to protect the U.S. homeland from terrorism,” FBI Director Kash Patel stated. “An individual who supported a plot by ISIS-sympathizing family members to commit an attack in America has paid the price for that.”
“She came to our country, betrayed it, and has now lost the right to live here and enjoy our democratic freedoms,” he added.
Nazira Haji Zada, 47, a former resident of Fort Worth, Texas, conceded in court that she is a terrorist and waived appeal of the termination of her previous immigration status.
The Alien Terrorist Removal Court issued an order for her removal to Afghanistan on Aug. 20, which was unsealed along with other court documents on Friday.
She was deported from the United States on Aug. 26, according to the now-unsealed removal notice.
Zada’s son and son-in-law were arrested in October 2024 after purchasing firearms and ammunition with the intention of carrying out a mass-casualty attack during that year’s election on behalf of ISIS. Both pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges in 2025.
According to the criminal complaint, Zada raised funds for the planned attack by selling off property. The government also presented classified evidence of Zada’s complicity in the plot, which may be presented in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court when “disclosing that information to the public would pose risks to national security,” according to the Department of Justice.
Congress established the court in 1996 with the passage of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. No previous administration has brought a case before it in its 30-year history.
Under the statute the court may determine, using a preponderance of the evidence, that aliens residing in the United States are terrorists and order their removal.
