{"id":22453,"date":"2026-07-30T22:39:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T17:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=22453"},"modified":"2026-07-30T22:39:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T17:39:03","slug":"long-dormant-court-holds-fits-first-public-hearing-as-the-us-seeks-to-deport-an-afghan-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=22453","title":{"rendered":"Long-dormant court holds fits first public hearing as the US seeks to deport an Afghan woman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">WASHINGTON &#8212; <\/span>The Trump administration&#8217;s activation of a long-dormant court to seek an Afghan woman&#8217;s deportation violates her constitutional rights, a defense lawyer argued Thursday at a hearing for the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atrc.uscourts.gov\/docs\/2026-TRC-1-Exhibit%20C%20-%20Unclassified%20ICE%20Declaration%20in%20Support%20of%20Application%20for%20Removal%20of%20Nazira%20Haji%20Zada%20-%20Redacted.pdf\">first case<\/a> to be heard in the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/alien-terrorist-removal-court-first-deportation-plot-112d39fcfd89f52ddc6b85cb04e0c934\">obscure court<\/a> since its creation 30 years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Attorney Matthew Farley urged the chief judge of the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fjc.gov\/history\/courts\/alien-terrorist-removal-court-1996-present\">Alien Terrorist Removal Court<\/a> to dismiss the case against <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atrc.uscourts.gov\/\">Nazira Haji Zada<\/a> and immediately release his client. Judge Joan Ericksen denied Farley\u2019s requests but said Zada&#8217;s lawyers can renew them as the case proceeds in the nation&#8217;s capital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThis entire scheme is in violation of due process and unconstitutional.\u201d said Farley, an assistant federal public defender. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The court, established in 1996, had never received a petition until this month, when the Justice Department filed an application seeking Zada&#8217;s removal. The court has a specific authority to conduct deportation proceedings for individuals whom the Department of Justice classifies as \u201calien terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">FBI agents arrested her Tuesday at her Fort Worth, Texas, home. She is not charged with any crimes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">An <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atrc.uscourts.gov\/docs\/2026-TRC-1-Exhibit%20E%20-%20Unclassified%20Summary.pdf\">FBI memo<\/a> dated July 15 said it \u201cdeveloped information\u201d that she is an Islamic State supporter who had her children pledge their loyalty to the terrorist group. The memo says she \u201csupported\u201d a plot by relatives to carry out an ISIS-inspired attack in the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Court filings identify her as the mother and mother-in-law of two Afghan men who were convicted in Oklahoma for their roles in the 2024 Election Day plot. Her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, was sentenced in November to 15 years in prison and court records show he previously agreed to be removed from the U.S. after his release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON &#8212; The Trump administration&#8217;s activation of a long-dormant court to seek an Afghan woman&#8217;s deportation violates her constitutional rights, a defense lawyer argued Thursday at a hearing for the first case to be heard in the obscure court since its creation 30 years ago. Attorney Matthew Farley urged the chief judge of the Alien&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/d75b0584-89e2-405e-86c6-cb0200ac2733\/wirestory_4573fe653ae466e7c9540dc02ee970e5_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}