The Justice Department announced on Friday that a 47-year-old Afghan permanent resident living in Texas has been deported after being labeled an “alien terrorist” in the first proceeding of its kind. Nazira Haji Zada chose to depart the U.S. instead of pursuing further legal battles in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court. Established in 1996, the court handles the deportation of noncitizens when traditional legal processes cannot be used due to classified national security information. Public defenders representing Haji Zada previously argued that the court’s secretive rules infringed upon her due process rights, as targets cannot examine classified evidence or challenge how it was gathered. Although Haji Zada never faced criminal charges, her son Abdullah Haji Zada and son-in-law Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi were convicted for an ISIS-inspired mass shooting plot targeting Election Day in 2024. The Justice Department claimed she supported those plans and worked to radicalize her children toward ISIS. According to the department, prosecutors provided her defense with half a terabyte of supporting documents, after which Haji Zada admitted she is an alien terrorist, waived her appeal, and relinquished her legal status. Attorney General Todd Blanche praised the outcome as a significant victory for national security and the rule of law, emphasizing that supporters of terrorism have no place in the United States.
Source: cbsnews.com
