The Trump administration is moving to deport an unnamed illegal immigrant suspected of terrorism through the long-dormant Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC), which has never heard a single case.
The Justice Department filed its first-ever application for a removal order with the court on July 15, marking the first attempt in the court’s nearly 30-year history to invoke a little-known law allowing the government to deport noncitizens suspected of terrorism through a specialized judicial process that relies on sealed classified evidence. If successful, the administration could revive what legal scholars have called a “zombie” court as a powerful new tool for removing suspected terrorists.
“This Department of Justice will use every tool available to bring alien terrorists to justice and remove them from the United States, including by use of this court established by Congress in 1996,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The move also comes months after Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., pointed to the long-dormant Alien Terrorist Removal Court as an alternative for handling terrorism-related deportation cases while questioning the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act.
“In fact, Congress has an answer for us, doesn’t it? Because they created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court,” Boasberg said during a March hearing. “So if there’s a national security concern with having these hearings, whether via habeas or otherwise, you can always go to the AT
