'Alien terrorist': Afghan woman faces first-of-its-kind deportation over failed mass shooting in US

The 47-year-old woman was arrested in JulyA woman in the US has been deported to Afghanistan after admitting in a rarely used federal court that she was an “alien terrorist”. The court was created three decades ago but held its first hearing only this year.The US justice department accused Nazira Haji Zada, 47, of supporting her son and son-in-law as they prepared a mass shooting inspired by the Islamic State for election day 2024. The attack never took place, and both men were arrested and later convicted on terrorism-related charges.Haji Zada, who previously lived at Fort Worth in Texas, was not charged with any crime herself. While she agreed to be removed from the United States, her lawyers argued that the proceedings had denied them access to classified evidence and violated fundamental constitutional protections.Her case was the first to be heard by the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, which Congress established in 1996 to enable the swift deportation of suspected terrorists while restricting the public disclosure of sensitive intelligence.According to court documents made public on Friday, the case was settled through a plea agreement last month. However, in a joint filing dated August 20, the Justice Department and Haji Zada’s defence agreed that she was an “alien terrorist”.The admissions she made cannot be used against her in any criminal case.

Source: Times of India September 12, 2026 01:46 UTC