(The Center Square ) – The Department of Justice is seeking to remove an Afghan national from the U.S. through a U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC).
It’s the first time the DOJ is asking the court to remove a foreign national from the U.S. who “supported a plot by ISIS-sympathizing family members to commit an act of terrorism in America,” FBI Director Kash Patel said.
The DOJ is seeking to remove Afghan national Nazira Haji Zada, 47, residing in Fort Worth, Texas, through the court. The case dates to 2024 when she and her family members conspired to commit an Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)-inspired mass shooting on Election Day, according to federal authorities. The U.S. designated ISIS as a foreign terrorist organization in 2004.
She and her family members have been living in Fort Worth. She was arrested this week. Her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and Tawhedi were previously arrested and convicted in the terrorist plot case.
Her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, was residing in Oklahoma City when he was arrested, The Center Square reported. Tawhedi pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit a terrorist attack. This involved purchasing two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition, and 10 magazines to commit a mass-casualty attack on or around Election Day, on Nov. 5, 2024, on behalf of ISIS.
To raise funds for their attack, his family began selling their furniture, computers, a mobile phone, and two vehicles, according to the complaint. Nazia Zada also signed a contract to sell the family house, the complaint alleges. The family also purchased a one-way plane ticket for Nazira to take the children (excluding Abdullah and Tawhedi) to Kabul, Afghanistan, ahead of the planned Election Day shooting, according to authorities.
Tawhedi pleaded guilty last June to two terrorism-related offenses and is awaiting sentencing.
Abdullah Zada, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, he will be deported to Afghanistan after his prison sentence is completed. He also waived his right to appeal with limited exceptions.
Now, the DOJ is moving to deport Nazira Zada.
“Congress created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court three decades ago to remove from the United States alien terrorists who never should have been here in the first place,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “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. The Department’s application in this court makes clear that terrorists have no place in the United States of America.”
“The ATRC embodies the recognition that the government should not have to choose between allowing a dangerous alien to remain in the United States and disclosing sensitive, classified information in a traditional removal proceeding,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg sai.
Congress established the ATRC, a specialized federal court, in 1996. It has jurisdiction to remove “alien terrorists” swiftly from the United States, “when the government establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that an alien is a terrorist.” The court also allows the government to use classified information to avoid disclosing it to the public when doing so poses a risk to national security.
The court is comprised of federal district court judges all appointed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Zada’s removal proceeding is a result of a multi-agency effort, including the DOJ’s National Security Division, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The action comes as the Trump administration is prosecuting Islamic terrorism cases as the U.S. approaches the 25-year anniversary of 9/11, the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
The most recent cases involve young men living in New Jersey and Washington who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and supporting ISIS. They were all born after 9/11 in the U.S. and grew up to want to commit terrorism, pledging support to ISIS, investigators said The Center Square reported.
According to a U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security terror threat assessment report, federal prosecutions in 30 U.S. states involve individuals attempting to provide material support to ISIS, Hezbollah and al Queda. According to Georgetown University’s Project on Extremism, nearly 200 people were charged from 2014 to 2025 for offenses related to ISIS, The Center Square reported.
Over a 45-year period analyzed since 1979, there have been nearly 70,000 Islamic terrorist attacks that have been committed worldwide, The Center Square reported.