Justice Department secures deportation order in first-of-its-kind case brought in secretive court, tell me about this news in (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/justice-department-secures-deportation-order-in-first-of-its-kind-case-brought-in-secretive-court/ar-AA2c2oLc?ocid=BingNewsVerp)

The report covers a historic legal development in the United States involving the first-ever use of the Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC), an obscure and secretive federal body that had remained completely dormant since its creation by Congress in 1996.Background on the CourtCongress created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 1996 under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. It was designed to allow the U.S. government to deport noncitizens suspected of terrorism using classified evidence without having to disclose sensitive national security information in open immigration courts. The court consists of five federal district judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite existing for three decades, it had never received a single petition until mid-2026.The Case and AllegationsThe Justice Department filed its inaugural ATRC case against Nazira Haji Zada, a 47-year-old Afghan national who had been living in Fort Worth, Texas.

• Federal authorities accused her of supporting an ISIS-inspired mass-casualty plot intended to target American voters on Election Day in 2024.
• According to investigators, she allegedly helped indoctrinate family members into ISIS ideology. Her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, had previously pleaded guilty and received a 15-year prison sentence for attempting to obtain firearms for terrorism, while her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, also pleaded guilty to related federal terrorism charges.
• The government alleged that one-way tickets had been purchased to send her and young children back to Afghanistan shortly before the planned attack.

The OutcomeOn September 11, 2026, the Department of Justice confirmed that Haji Zada had been deported to Afghanistan under an ATRC removal order originally signed under seal in August. Rather than proceeding through a prolonged classified hearing, she waived her rights to contest the removal proceedings and agreed to return to Afghanistan.Controversy and CriticismsThe case drew significant attention and concern from legal scholars and civil liberties advocates:

• Due Process Concerns: Defense attorneys and legal analysts criticized the use of secret evidence, arguing that subjecting individualsincluding lawful permanent residentsto deportation based on proceedings where they and their lawyers cannot fully review the underlying classified allegations violates constitutional due process.
• Questioning the Necessity: Observers noted that Haji Zada did not speak English and could neither read nor write, raising questions among critics as to why the administration chose this specific case to test the constitutional limits of a long-abandoned court rather than using standard immigration or criminal proceedings.