DOJ tapped never-used ‘alien terrorist’ court to deport mother of convicted ISIS supporter - Politico

What the report says

Politico reported that the Justice Department has turned to a special “alien terrorist” court that, according to the outlet’s headline, had never previously been used, seeking to deport the mother of a person convicted of supporting ISIS. The supplied article text does not identify the woman, the convicted person, the location of the case or the specific grounds the government cited for removal.

The available snippet says ICE officials asked the special court to approve the deportation because, in their view, standard immigration court proceedings would not be adequate. Politico’s report therefore points to a significant procedural choice by federal authorities: pursuing removal through an extraordinary national-security mechanism rather than the ordinary immigration system.

For context beyond the supplied excerpt, the Alien Terrorist Removal Court is a little-known body created by Congress in the 1990s for cases involving noncitizens and terrorism-related removal proceedings. It has been understood as a tool designed for sensitive national-security matters, including situations where the government may rely on classified information, though its practical use has been extremely limited or nonexistent.

The development matters because using such a court could test long-dormant legal powers at the intersection of immigration enforcement, counterterrorism and due-process protections. With the full Politico article unavailable here, key details remain unconfirmed from the supplied evidence, including the woman’s legal status, the government’s specific allegations, any defense response and whether the special court has acted on ICE’s request.