Fox reports Justice Department filed a deportation case in the Alien Terrorist Removal Court after prior court fight involving Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly and Judge Boasberg

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is moving to use the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in a new deportation-related case, according to Fox News Politics, which reported that the Department filed what it described as its first-ever case in that forum under a 1996 terrorism-removal law.

Fox reported the filing is connected to an ongoing deportation fight in which the court previously pointed to the Alien Terrorist Removal Court as the appropriate venue, referencing U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg as having raised or discussed the court in the earlier dispute.

Under the reporting, the Department’s filing relies on the 1996 statute aimed at removing certain noncitizens designated in connection with terrorism allegations, and the government’s stated approach is to proceed in the specialized Alien Terrorist Removal Court rather than continue solely through other immigration or removal pathways.

The practical effect of the Department’s decision, as described by Fox, is that the litigation will take place under a specialized statutory framework rather than being routed only through standard removal proceedings. That can shape how quickly the matter proceeds, what records and issues the parties litigate, and what kinds of judicial findings are at the center of the case.

The Trump administration’s court strategy also highlights a recurring tension in high-profile deportation litigation between ordinary immigration adjudication and specialized national-security-related procedures. In these cases, the choice of forum can affect the scope of disputes, including the handling of classified or sensitive national-security information, the standards applied, and the sequence in which courts review contested government evidence.

Fox’s report characterizes the Alien Terrorist Removal Court as “zombie” in part because it had not previously been used in the way the Department is now pursuing, based on the outlet’s description that the case is the first of its kind brought by the Justice Department.

As of publication, no Department of Justice press release or court docket from or a posted order was provided in the supplied materials to independently confirm the filing details, the case caption, the exact statutory subsection cited, or the specific rulings being referenced. The description below therefore reflects what Fox reported, not an Apex-confirmed court record.

The next step for the public record will be locating the Department of Justice filing on official court-docket systems or a corresponding Department of Justice statement that identifies the Alien Terrorist Removal Court case, the legal basis invoked, and any initial scheduling or judicial directions that follow from the filing.