Pro-Palestine protester Leqaa Kordia freed from US immigration detention

Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman detained in the United States after taking part in pro-Palestine demonstrations in 2024, has been released after a year in custody.

The 33-year-old, who grew up in the occupied West Bank before moving to the US in 2016, left the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on Monday and was returning to her family in New Jersey, her legal team said.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m free! I’m free! Finally, after one year,” a smiling Kordia told reporters outside the Texas facility.

She said she was looking forward to going home and hugging her mother “so hard”. But she also said she would keep fighting on behalf of people still being held at the detention centre.

“There is a lot of injustice in this place,” she said. “There is a lot of people that shouldn’t be here in the first place.”

An immigration judge had ruled that Kordia was eligible for release on bond three times. Immigration officials appealed the first two rulings, but Kordia was freed on a $100,000 bond after government lawyers did not challenge the third.

Hamzah Abushaban, Kordia’s cousin, said the past year had taken an “unimaginable toll on Kordia and the entire family”.

“We are grateful to our community that stood beside us every step of the way, and for the countless prayers offered during this past Ramadan – those moments of sincerity and hope carried us through some of our darkest days,” he said in a statement.

‘Disingenuous’ claims

Kordia, who lost nearly 200 members of her family during Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, was among several protesters targeted by immigration officials for taking part in pro-Palestine demonstrations at Columbia University in 2024.

She was arrested last March during a routine check-in with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New Jersey. Immigration authorities said they arrested her in ‌2025 for overstaying her expired student visa, though her lawyer said she was in the process of securing legal residence. Her lawyers argue she was targeted by the administration of US President Donald Trump for her political activism against Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

Until Monday, Kordia was the only person targeted in connection with the demonstration who was still in immigration detention after the release of others, including Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi.

She was recently hospitalised for three days following a seizure after fainting and hitting her head at the privately run detention facility. Her legal team told Al Jazeera that Kordia’s legs were chained to her bed, and she was denied access to legal counsel or family while in hospital.

At a hearing on Friday, Kordia’s lawyers said she had a neurological condition that had worsened while in custody, putting her at an elevated risk of seizure. They reiterated that she could stay with US citizen family members and did not pose a flight risk.

The immigration judge, Tara Naselow-Nahas, agreed.

“I’ve heard testimony. I’ve seen thousands of pages of evidence presented by the respondent, and very little evidence presented by the government in any of this,” Naselow-Nahas said.

According to Kordia’s legal team, the immigration judge described the US government’s arguments against release on bond as “disingenuous” and said Kordia was “next to no flight risk”. They said the bond hearing marked the third time Kordia has applied for release from immigration detention after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fought her application for bail on both occasions.

‘Bare minimum’

Travis Fife, staff attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the government has “taken every effort to deny her basic rights and freedom, blocking her release not once but twice”.

“Leqaa going home today is the bare minimum. We must continue to assert the fundamental First Amendment principle that the government cannot abuse power to punish people for using their voice,” he said.

In my meeting with President Trump last month, we discussed ICE’s actions at Columbia University. I asked that the federal government release Leqaa Kordia and drop the cases against four others.

I am grateful that Leqaa has been released this evening from ICE custody after more…

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) March 16, 2026

Kordia’s time in detention has been significantly longer than that of many of her fellow protesters.

Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student and protester leader, spent three months in a Louisiana detention facility, while Mahdawi, another Columbia student, was released after two weeks.

The charges against Kordia stemming from the 2024 protests have been dropped, but the immigration case against her will continue.

Federal officials have accused Kordia of overstaying her visa, while scrutinising payments she sent to relatives in the Middle East. Kordia said the money was meant to help family members suffering during the war.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the DHS, had previously criticised Kordia for what she said was “providing financial support to individuals living in nations hostile to the US”.

An immigration judge found “overwhelming evidence” that Kordia was telling the truth about the payments.

Kordia’s ordeal has drawn national attention in the US, including from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who spoke about her case last month during a meeting with Trump.

“In my meeting with President Trump last month, we discussed ICE’s actions at Columbia University. I asked that the federal government release Leqaa Kordia and drop the cases against four others,” Mamdani said on X. “I am grateful that Leqaa has been released this evening from ICE custody after more than a year in detention for speaking up for Palestinian rights.”