New Delhi, July 20 -- WASHINGTON - A court created in 1996 to deport suspected alien terrorists using classified evidence, empowered by Congress in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, and left entirely unused for thirty years received its first case last Wednesday. The Trump administration filed a sealed petition with the Alien Terrorist Removal Court on July 16. The court's five judges, none appointed by the president, acknowledged almost immediately that they were not fully prepared for what arrived.

The public record from the filing is a single page. The respondent's identity is withheld. The specific allegations are classified. Chief Judge Joan Ericksen, a federal judge from Minnesota who presides over the five-member court, ...