Afghan woman in Texas dubbed an “alien terrorist” is deported in DOJ’s first case using obscure court

Updated on: September 11, 2026 / 11:17 AM EDT / CBS News

Washington — An Afghan permanent resident living in Texas has been deported after the Justice Department accused her of being an "alien terrorist," in the first such case of its kind, the department announced on Friday.

Nazira Haji Zada, 47, opted to leave the United States rather than continue litigating the case in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, the department said.

The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was first created in 1996 to allow the government to deport noncitizens who could not be removed by the traditional legal process because the information about their cases was classified and could not be made public for national security reasons.

Public defenders representing Haji Zada had initially indicated she intended to fight the government's efforts to deport her, saying the court's secretive rules violated her due process rights.

The targets of the court's noncitizen terrorist removal proceedings — including legal permanent residents — are not permitted to review the classified evidence against them. And unlike criminal proceedings, targets are barred from legally challenging how the evidence was collected by the government.

Haji Zada has never been charged with a crime. However, her…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/