Attorneys for 47-year-old Nazira Haji Zada say the Department of Justice has refused to provide classified discovery in what defense counsel describe as the first case brought before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC), a specialized tribunal for deportation proceedings involving alleged noncitizen terrorists. In a nine-page motion to compel, defense lawyers assert they hold the necessary security clearances but have been denied access to classified materials the government used in its ATRC application and intends to rely on at a forthcoming detention hearing.
Defense Arguments
The motion opens by stressing that lawful permanent residents like Haji Zada remain protected by the U.S. Constitution and that those protections apply in immigration proceedings. It cites a string of precedents applying the First, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to immigration contexts and notes Supreme Court authority recognizing that many constitutional safeguards extend to immigrants generally once they are physically present in the United States and have developed substantial ties to the country.
"The government now ignores all of Ms. Haji Zada's rights by detaining her based on evidence that it will not permit even her cleared counsel to review," the motion says, asking the court to order disclosure of evidence relied on in the government's ATRC application and of any material the government will present to justify continued detention.
Allegations and Case Background
According to the Justice Department, Haji Zada was "the matriarch of an alien Afghan family" who plotted to move several relatives to ISIS-controlled territory in Afghanistan while her son and son-in-law planned an Election Day mass shooting that would be touted as an ISIS victory. The alleged conspiracy led to the October 2024 arrests of Haji Zada's son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, who later pleaded guilty to firearms and terrorism-related charges, respectively.
The government's case against Nazira Haji Zada was announced publicly on July 15; on July 30 the DOJ declassified an FBI application filed with the ATRC that outlined the government's theory. Defense counsel contend that additional classified information remains secret and that withholding it prejudices their ability to prepare for the scheduled release hearing on Aug. 11.
Statutory And Constitutional Claims
The defense frames the dispute as both statutory and constitutional. It cites 8 U.S.C. §1534, the ATRC statute, which requires that respondents be afforded a "reasonable opportunity to examine the evidence against [them] and to cross-examine any witness," and argues that the Fifth Amendment's due-process guarantees require disclosure at a minimum of the classified evidence to cleared counsel before the hearing.
"The critical components of due process are notice and the opportunity to be heard," the motion states. "The government's refusal to make any of the evidence which has been secretly presented against Ms. Haji Zada available for review plainly deprives her of both pillars of due process." The filing asks the court to act on an expedited basis so counsel can meaningfully prepare before the Aug. 11 hearing.
About the ATRC
Congress created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 1996 as a specialized forum to evaluate deportation cases involving alleged noncitizen terrorists residing in the United States. The ATRC is composed of five U.S. district judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; they serve staggered, renewable five-year terms and must be drawn from different judicial circuits, according to the Federal Judicial Center.
The Trump administration, via the DOJ, has said it will not disclose the requested classified material "absent an order from the Court." The next steps depend on whether the ATRC will compel disclosure and, if so, on what terms cleared defense counsel can review the classified evidence prior to Haji Zada's detention hearing.
