DOJ tests limits of never-before-used court to deport suspected terrorist

The Justice Department is now attempting to use a decades-old, secretive federal immigration court that has never been used in a test case that could allow it to expedite the deportation of suspected "alien terrorists."

The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was created by Congress in 1996 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It was set up to deport noncitizens who could not be removed by the traditional legal process because the information about their cases was classified and could not be made public for national security reasons.

The targets of noncitizen terrorist removal proceedings — including legal permanent residents — are not permitted to review the classified evidence against them, and unlike criminal proceedings, they are barred from legally challenging how the evidence was collected by the government.

Only the attorney general may approve "alien terrorist" removal applications by law, and one of five federal judges appointed to the Alien Terrorist Removal Court by the chief justice of the Supreme Court must decide whether to approve or deny the request. If the judge denies an application, the government can appeal to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The Justice Department must show probable cause that the defendant is a noncitizen who meets the legal definition of an "alien terrorist" and poses a national security threat. Such filings are made largely under seal and are reviewed only by the judge and the government.

The defendant can hire an attorney, and if the person is a green card holder, the government can appoint an attorney with a security clearance.

But it's been a "zombie" court — it has existed solely on paper. That changed on July 15 when the Justice Department filed its first application seeking removal of an "alien terrorist."

The application, which was first reported by the independent news organization Court Watch, is almost entirely classified, and was filed before an official court website even existed.

The filing came on the same day Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing to serve as attorney general.

The application was not made public until several days later when a new website for the court first went live, so lawmakers were unable to question him publicly about the Justice Department's decision to use the Alien Terrorist Removal Court.

A federal judge assigned to the court has since asked the department for more information to support its removal request, but the details of the case remain a mystery. If the government's app