US Deports Afghan Woman Linked To 2024 Election Day Terror Plot

The United States has deported a 47-year-old Afghan woman, Nazira Haji Zada, after she admitted supporting an ISIS-inspired plot by members of her family to carry out a mass shooting on Election Day in 2024.

The US Department of Justice said Zada, who previously lived in Fort Worth, Texas, was removed from the country after conceding that she was an “alien terrorist”.

The department disclosed this in a statement posted via its official website on Friday, saying Zada’s removal marked the first case brought before the United States Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC).

The ATRC issued the removal order on August 20, which was unsealed after Zada returned to Afghanistan, her country of origin.

According to the statement, Attorney General Todd Blanche certified the application for Zada’s removal on July 15, while she appeared in open court for the first time on July 30.

ATRC Chief Judge Joan N. Ericksen later signed the removal order.

The Justice Department said the government relied on classified information, as permitted under the ATRC statute, to establish that Zada was an alien terrorist.

It also provided Zada and her lawyers with approximately half a terabyte of documents supporting the case.

Zada, represented by two federal public defenders, conceded that she was an alien terrorist and waived her right to appeal the removal order.

“This landmark case, resulting in the prompt removal of this alien terrorist to her country of origin, is a win for national security and the rule of law,” Blanche said.

“Those who support and condone terrorism should not be living in the United States, and this first-ever case before the ATRC shows how the Department will use every tool at its disposal to protect our country,” he added.

FBI Director Kash Patel described the case as a “historic and vitally important step” in efforts to protect the US homeland from terrorism.

“An individual who supported a plot by ISIS-sympathizing family members to commit an attack in America has paid the price for that,” Patel said.

“She came to our country, betrayed it, and has now lost the right to live here and enjoy our democratic freedoms.”

The Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, said Zada’s removal followed President Donald Trump’s directive to use the ATRC to expel her from the United States.

“Those who plot acts of terrorism against the United States have no place in our country. We will find them, and we will use every lawful tool available to remove them,” Mullin said.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security, John A. Eisenberg, accused Zada of supporting her sons’ alleged terrorist plot while residing in the US.

“She abused our Nation’s hospitality and represented a clear threat to our national security,” Eisenberg said.

The case stemmed from the October 7, 2024 arrests of Zada’s son, Abdullah Haji Zada, and her son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, after they allegedly purchased firearms and ammunition from an undercover FBI employee for an Election Day attack.

Abdullah, who was 17 when arrested, later pleaded guilty as an adult and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. He also agreed to be removed to Afghanistan after completing his sentence.

Tawhedi, 28, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to terrorism-related offences involving conspiracy and attempted material support for ISIS, as well as firearms offences connected to a federal crime of terrorism. He is awaiting sentencing.

According to US court documents, Tawhedi admitted conspiring with at least one other person between June and October 2024 to obtain 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.

The Justice Department said the family had also begun selling property, including furniture, computers, a mobile phone and two vehicles, to raise funds for the planned attack.

Zada reportedly signed a contract to sell the family’s house, while the family purchased one-way tickets to Kabul shortly before Election Day for some members, including Zada and other minor children.

The department said the ATRC was established by Congress in 1996 to swiftly remove alien terrorists from the United States when the government establishes, by a preponderance of evidence, that an individual is a terrorist.

The removal proceeding involved multiple federal agencies, including the Justice Department’s National Security Division, the FBI, US Marshals Service, Homeland Security Investigations and US Citizenship and Immigration Services.