Trump has activated a secretive court for deporting ‘alien terrorists.’ Here’s what to know | CNN Politics

A little-known court tasked with handling highly sensitive deportation cases against alleged alien terrorists has lain dormant since its 1996 creation, lacking even a website for tracking any proceedings before it. But this month, the Alien Terrorist Removal Court sprang to life with a first-of-its-kind case filed by the Trump administration as it reaches for new deportation tactics. For 30 years, a rotating set of judges assigned to the court have sat ready to hear any cases brought to it. Yet never before has the federal government thought it had a case that required the court – or was worth the risk of testing the constitutionality of its controversial procedures. The court gives the government enormous latitude to keep secret – including from the person it is trying to deport – its reasons for believing an immigrant is a terrorist. And it closes off many of the avenues migrants typically have for contesting their removals. Exclusive: The false claims, chaos and coverups behind the Trump administration’s killing of two American citizens Because, by design, most of what happens in the court is kept under wraps, little is known about the groundbreaking case the Justice Dep