The Justice Department is turning for the first time to a special court to argue for the removal of a woman accused of supporting the Islamic State.
The Justice Department wants to use the Alien Terrorist Removal Court to deport Nazira Haji Zada, a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. She will appear in court for the first hearing on Thursday.
Congress created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 1996 to make it easier for the Justice Department to use classified evidence to deport people from American soil.
Authorities have never before used the court. But this month, the DOJ launched the process against Zada, a 47-year-old woman based in Fort Worth, Texas.
Prosecutors already brought criminal charges against her son and son-in-law for trying to attack the 2024 elections on behalf of the Islamic State, a terror organization. Both men were sentenced to time in prison and will be deported after serving their sentences.
"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," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. "The Department's application in this court makes clear that terrorists have no place in the United States of America."
Judge Joan Ericksen, the chief judge of the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, will preside over the case.
Copyright 2026 NPR
