The Department of Justice has filed its first-ever application in the U.S. Alien Terrorist Removal Court, seeking the deportation of a Fort Worth, Texas, woman accused of helping her family plan an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day in 2024.
Nazira Haji Zada, 47, was arrested earlier this week and will appear before Chief Judge Joan N. Ericksen in Washington, D.C., on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. Federal prosecutors describe Zada as the matriarch of an Afghan family whose son and son-in-law were previously arrested and convicted for their roles in the attack plan. The official removal application was filed on July 15.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
Federal authorities originally arrested Zada’s son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 28, and her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, on Oct. 7, 2024. The arrest followed an undercover FBI operation where the pair purchased two AK-47 rifles, 10 magazines, and 500 rounds of ammunition.
Abdullah, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, pled guilty as an adult and received a 15-year prison sentence. Under his plea deal, he agreed to a judicial order of removal back to Afghanistan once his sentence ends, forfeiting his lawful permanent resident status and waiving his rights to appeal or seek asylum.
Tawhedi pled guilty on June 13, 2025, to two federal terrorism counts, including attempting to provide material support to ISIS and acquiring firearms for a terrorist act. According to court filings, Tawhedi admitted to planning the mass-casualty attack for around Nov. 5, 2024, and had discussed the weapon purchases with an ISIS facilitator.
Court documents state that during 2024, the family sold off personal belongings—including furniture, electronics, a phone, and two vehicles—to raise cash for the operation. Nazira Zada signed a contract to sell the family’s home and bought one-way airline tickets to take her other children to Kabul, Afghanistan, shortly before the planned shooting date.
“This is a historic step asking this court for the first time to remove an individual from the United States who supported a plot by ISIS-sympathizing family members to commit an act of terrorism in America,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “No one should be allowed to come into our country and then betray it. The FBI and our Justice Department partners will not hesitate to use all available resources to protect the American people.”
Created by Congress in 1996, the Alien Terrorist Removal Court is composed of sitting federal district court judges who are appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States. The special tribunal was designed to decide removal cases where the government’s evidence involves sensitive classified information that cannot be disclosed publicly without risking national security. To order a removal, the court must find that the government proved its case by a preponderance of the evidence.
“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,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “We will use all the tools at our disposal, including this court, to remove foreign nationals who betray our values and exploit our goodwill by supporting ISIS and terrorist plots.”
Defendants brought before the ATRC are entitled to court-appointed counsel if needed, and decisions can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The case involves joint operations across multiple agencies, including the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The litigation is being led by Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hayden O’Byrne, along with Deputy Chief Larry Schneider and Trial Attorneys Anna Donnell and Evan Schultz from the National Security Division.
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