ICE defied judges for a year, keeping an activist locked up — and the reason why is downright shocking
Leqaa Kordia is finally free.
Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian activist, is finally free after spending an entire year in ICE custody, despite judges repeatedly demanding her release. Kordia was taken into custody last March after reporting for a routine check-in at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Jersey. This move came nearly a year after her initial arrest in April 2024 at a protest against Israel’s genocide of Gaza outside Columbia University.
According to The Guardian, Kordia, 33 and originally from the West Bank, Palestine, remained detained at the Prairieland detention center in Alvarado, Texas, even though a judge ruled three separate times that she posed no threat and could be released on bond. She was ultimately released on a $100,000 bond.
Her lawyers had repeatedly voiced serious concerns about the filthy and dangerous conditions inside the detention center. In February, Kordia was even hospitalized after suffering a seizure. She stated through her attorney that she was shackled at her hands and legs throughout her entire 72-hour hospital stay.
Leqaa wants to fight for the rights of others locked up in ICE detention centers
“ICE detention facilities are built to break people and destroy their health and hope,” Kordia said. “I want everyone to know what happened to me because the same things are happening to other women who are locked up here.”
This past year has clearly been an unimaginable struggle for Kordia and her family. Hamzah Abushaban, Kordia’s cousin, expressed their gratitude for the community support and prayers during Ramadan, which he said carried them through some of their darkest days.
Travis Fife, a staff attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project and one of Kordia’s attorneys, said. “Since her detention over one year ago, the government has taken every effort to deny her basic rights and freedom, blocking her release not once but twice,” Fife said. He added that Kordia going home today is the bare minimum, emphasizing the need to assert the fundamental First Amendment principle that the government cannot abuse power to punish people for using their voice.
Kordia was the last person still in immigration detention following the Trump’s administration’s 2025 crackdown on pro-Palestine protesters on college campuses. She was detained around the same time as fellow protesters Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi.
She has been unlawfully targeted for her advocacy for Palestinian rights
Kristi Noem, who was then the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, accused Kordia of being a terrorist sympathizer and claimed the government was investigating funds she had sent overseas. However, Kordia’s lawyers clarified that she, working as a server, had sent about $1,000 to help her family in Gaza.
At the time of her detention, Kordia had a pending asylum application. Her lawyers also noted that she is currently in the process of obtaining permanent residency through her mother, who is a US citizen. Sarah Sherman-Stokes, a supervising attorney with the Boston University School of Law’s immigrants’ rights clinic, called Kordia’s release an important step in restoring her rights.
Sherman-Stokes further suggested that Kordia continues to be unlawfully targeted for her advocacy for Palestine. Kordia’s case really galvanized support from lawmakers, including New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who personally appealed to Trump for her release.
On the anniversary of her detention on March 3, after a judge ordered for the first time that Kordia be released on bond, she expressed hope to be reunited with her family soon. “All I want is for the government to finally release me now so I can go home to my family. Until then, I’ll continue speaking up for the basic rights and freedom of all people, from Texas to Palestine,” she said.
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