Nazira Haji Zada, an Afghan national, has been removed from the United States after conceding she is an alien terrorist in the first-ever case brought before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC), the Department of Homeland Security said.
Zada, 47, who resided in Fort Worth, Texas, was the matriarch of a family involved in planning an attack, the agency said. Her son Abdullah Haji Zada and son-in-law Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi were previously arrested and convicted in connection with a plot to commit an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day 2024.
An ATRC removal order was issued August 20 and unsealed following Zada's return to her country of origin. She is now permanently inadmissible to the United States.
The ATRC, established by Congress in 1996, had never been used until now. An application to remove Zada was filed July 15, and she appeared in ATRC court for the first time on July 30 before Chief Judge Joan N. Ericksen, who signed the removal order. Zada conceded her status as an alien terrorist and waived her right to appeal.
According to court documents, Tawhedi and Abdullah Haji Zada were arrested October 7, 2024, after purchasing firearms and ammunition for an Election Day attack from an undercover FBI employee. Abdullah Haji Zada, who was 17 at arrest, entered a guilty plea as an adult and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Tawhedi, 28, has pleaded guilty to two terrorism-related offenses: conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and receiving firearms in furtherance of federal terrorism crimes. According to court documents, Tawhedi admitted conspiring between June and October 2024 to purchase two AK-47 rifles, 500 rounds of ammunition, and 10 magazines for a mass-casualty attack on or around November 5, 2024, on behalf of ISIS. He is awaiting sentencing.
To raise funds for the attack, the family sold property including furniture, computers, a mobile phone, and two vehicles. Zada signed a contract to sell the family house. The family also purchased one-way airfare to Kabul for travel before Election Day 2024 for some family members, though not for Abdullah Haji Zada or Tawhedi, according to court documents.