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Nazira Haji Zada, a lawful permanent resident, conceded to being an "alien terrorist." It marks the first case in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court. (Image credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Nazira Haji Zada, a lawful permanent resident, conceded to being an "alien terrorist." It marks the first case in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court.

(Image credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - The U.S. Department of Justice logo is seen on a podium before a news conference, May 4, 2026, in Washington. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP hide caption

For the first time, the Justice Department brought a case before a decades-old but until now unused special court to deport a legal US resident to Afghanistan after she conceded to being an "alien terrorist," court records show.

Alien Terrorist Removal Court holds its first-ever hearing after 30 years

Prosecutors alleged Nazira Haji Zada, 47, originally from Afghanistan, supported a plan by her son and son-in-law to commit an Islamic State-inspired mass shooting on Election Day in 2024, according to court documents. Both men have already been charged and will be deported following their release from prison. Haji Zada's son, Abdullah Haji Zada, 19, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Haji Zada was arrested in July at her home in Fort Worth, Texas, and had an initial hearing in late July. Instead of charging Haji Zada in the criminal justice system, leaders at the Justice Department launched the first-ever civil proceedings at the Alien Terrorist Removal Court. The secretive court allows for a lower standard of proof to remove a person from American soil.

Congress created the court in 1996 to make it easier for the DOJ to use classified evidence, that they say poses a risk to national security, to deport people.