On Friday, Sept. 11, the Alien Terrorist Removal Court posted new filings showing that its first-ever case is now closed. The new documents show that Nazira Haji Zada, the respondent, agreed on Aug. 20, 2026 to an order of judicial removal, and the Department of Homeland Security removed her from the United States to Afghanistan on Aug. 25, 2026. We wrote about the court’s activation and its first hearings here and here and discussed the case on the Just Security podcast. Below is an update on how the case ended and what it means moving forward.
I. How the Case Closed
The case closed not with a contested removal hearing or challenge to the constitutionality of the court followed by appeals, but with an agreed order issued the same day Chief Judge Ericksen cancelled the detention hearing. Notably, the court timely published the order cancelling the hearing, stating that it would be rescheduled at some point in the future. But it did not release any of the other now-available documents for weeks, and not until after Ms. Zada was removed. We now know that on August 20, the same day Judge Ericksen cancelled the hearing, DOJ and Ms. Zada’s attorneys filed a joint motion admitting that Ms. Zada was properly placed in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC) proceedings and that she agreed to an Order of Judicial Removal finding that she is considered an “alien terrorist.” DOJ asked to unseal these documents only after Ms. Zada was removed.
II. What the Case Tells Us, and What it Doesn’t
The resolution gave DOJ a removal order but, perhaps more importantly, spared it from defending the court’s constitutionality while at the same time providing a successful test run for future cases. In the process, the court prepared a website and set forth basic rules and procedures that provide the same minimal levels of due process provided for by the statute. The first case also gave the government a basic guideline of how much evidence it might need to present in order for a judge to grant an application to let a case go forward.
We still don’t know why DOJ picked this case to go first or what Ms. Zada actually did that rendered her an “alien terrorist” but was not so serious as to warrant criminal charges. None of the released documents provide any specific concessions, admissions, or facts. According to the submitted allegations, Ms. Zada did not want to remain in the United States; she had been planning to return to Afghanistan when her son and nephew were arrested. It therefore makes sense that Ms. Zada acquiesced to the case as it resulted in the removal she seemed to have wanted. By all counts this was a successful test case for DOJ. It did not need to justify why it brought the case against her, why now, and why it used the ATRC. DOJ also did not have to justify at a public hearing what kind of classified information existed that was insufficient to either support a criminal charge or support administrative removal proceedings.
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The first case showed the court can function; the next will show whether it provides due process and whether it will be used sparingly, as a political weapon, or broadly in an attempt to seek a removal order without having to publicly explain why the government considers some people “terrorists.”
