Secretive US Terrorism Deportation Court Holds First-Ever Hearing Under Trump

A secretive United States court established nearly three decades ago to deport suspected terrorists has held its first-ever hearing, marking a significant step in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda targeting non-citizens accused of posing national security threats.

The hearing, conducted on Thursday before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in Washington, centred on Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old lawful permanent resident accused of supporting the Islamic State (ISIS) and helping conceal an alleged failed Election Day 2024 mass shooting plot.

Although the proceedings were open to the public, prosecutors said much of the evidence against Haji Zada remains classified and cannot be publicly disclosed for national security reasons.

Congress established the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 1996 to handle deportation cases involving classified intelligence. However, the court had never heard a case until the Justice Department sought Haji Zada’s removal earlier this month.

According to court documents, Haji Zada has not been charged with any criminal offence. However, prosecutors noted that her son and son-in-law pleaded guilty last year to charges connected to the alleged terror plot.

Her attorney, Matthew Farley, argued that the unprecedented deportation process violates constitutional due process protections because it allows the government to rely on classified evidence that cannot be fully challenged by the defence.

“This entire scheme is in violation of due process and unconstitutional,” Farley told the court. “This is a runaround to bringing a criminal case.”

Farley also asked Chief Judge Joan Ericksen, who oversees the court, to dismiss the case immediately and order his client’s release. The judge rejected the request.

Haji Zada was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at her home in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday.

Ahead of the hearing, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the government’s action, describing the allegations as extremely serious.

“The allegations in this case show the matriarch of an ISIS-sympathizing family aiding in a plot to launch a mass casualty attack on American voters on Election Day,” Blanche said.

In an unclassified summary filed before the court, the Justice Department alleged that Haji Zada indoctrinated her children with ISIS ideology and concealed both their radicalisation and a planned relocation to ISIS-controlled territory from her husband.

The FBI, in a July 15 memorandum, said the underlying evidence remains classified because making it public could compromise intelligence-gathering methods and national security operations.

“The underlying information is classified because disclosure would enable terrorists and terrorist organizations to avoid preventative or detection measures or would reveal FBI or other U.S. Intelligence Community sources,” the agency stated.

Thursday’s hearing also highlighted the court’s lack of prior experience, with the judge, prosecutors and defence lawyers spending part of the session resolving procedural issues, including how classified documents would be handled and who would be permitted access to sensitive evidence.

No date has yet been fixed for the next hearing in what is expected to become a closely watched legal test of the rarely used court’s powers.