DOJ Files First-Ever Application to Activate Dormant Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 30-Year History

On July 15, 2026, the Department of Justice filed its first-ever application to activate the Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC), a congressionally-created Article III court that had never been used in the 30 years since its creation. The ATRC permits classified evidence to be used in removal proceedings against individuals designated as alleged alien terrorists — a mechanism that bypasses the procedural protections available in ordinary immigration court. The court’s own inaugural order signaled skepticism of the filing, directing DOJ to submit supplemental materials before the application could proceed, rather than granting activation outright.

The move to activate a dormant parallel-track deportation court sits alongside the administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act against Tren de Aragua (2025-03-14–alien-enemies-act-tren-de-aragua-proclamation-10903), the Boasberg contempt fight over AEA removal flights (2025-12-08–boasberg-orders-doj-testimony-alien-enemies-act), and the SCOTUS shadow-docket stay that vacated TROs blocking AEA removals (2025-04-07–scotus-stays-trump-v-jgg-alien-enemies-act-removals) — a recurring pattern of the administration reaching for underused or historically dormant legal mechanisms that carry weaker due-process protections than the ordinary immigration-court system, whose judges were themselves purged in bulk in late 2025 (2025-12-08–immigration-judge-purge-100-judges-fired). Critics warn the classified-evidence provision could be weaponized for politically-targeted deportations without independent respondents able to contest the underlying evidence, extending the pattern already visible in ICE’s defiance of standing court orders in immigration-court arrests (2026-06-30–ice-nyc-immigration-court-arrests-defy-june-24-injunction) and in deportations proceeding despite active court orders (2025-10-25–ice-deports-souvannarath-despite-court-order-laos).