US conducts first Alien Terrorist Removal Court hearing

The Trump administration will conduct the first-ever hearing of a secretive deportation court on Thursday, July 30, 2026, seeking to remove an Afghan woman accused of supporting an Islamic State-inspired terrorist plot. The case marks the inaugural use of the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a judicial body created by Congress in 1996 but never before activated.

Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old lawful permanent resident from Fort Worth, Texas, is scheduled for an initial public status hearing at 11 a.m. ET in a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. The Justice Department alleges she is an "alien terrorist" who supported a foiled plot by her relatives to carry out a mass-casualty attack on Election Day 2024. According to an unclassified summary, the government claims she "worked to indoctrinate her children with ISIS ideology and have them pledge loyalty to ISIS."

Zada has not been publicly charged with any terrorism crime and has no known criminal history. Her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, were convicted last year in federal court in Oklahoma for their roles in the plot. They pleaded guilty to charges including attempting to provide material support...