Afghan Woman Deported Through Secret Terrorism Court

Congress creates the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, giving the government a way to deport noncitizens accused of terrorism when the evidence is classified and cannot be aired in ordinary immigration proceedings. No administration files a petition with it for the next three decades.

Haji Zada's son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, are prosecuted over a plot to commit an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day. Both are convicted. The son is now serving 15 years for obtaining firearms to support a terrorist organization; the son-in-law, described in court filings as the driving force behind the plot, reached a plea deal and has not been sentenced.

The Trump administration activates the court and files its first-ever petition, against Haji Zada. Judge Joan Ericksen, the court's chief judge, grants initial approval for the case to proceed. Her public defenders signal they will fight, arguing the court's secret procedures violate her due process rights.

Filings later unsealed show she had by that date reached an agreement with the Justice Department to be deported, conceding the "alien terrorist" designation and waiving her right to appeal the removal order.

The Justice Department announces the deportation is complete and the filings are unsealed.

Targets of the court — including lawful permanent residents — are not allowed to review the classified evidence against them, and unlike defendants in criminal cases they are barred from challenging how the government collected it. The cases go before Article III judges, who are more independent than the Executive Branch immigration judges who handle routine removals.

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