Columbia University student Leqaa Kordia remains in ICE detention despite protests

A 33-year-old Palestinian woman detained by ICE is hospitalized after a medical episode at a detention facility in Texas. Leqaa Kordia, a resident of the US since 2016, has been held in custody since March 2025. According to reports, Kordia was rushed to a hospital on Friday following a seizure.

Kordia’s legal team stated that she was targeted for her protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza near Columbia University in New York in 2024. The federal government claims she was detained for allegedly overstaying her student visa.

Kordia’s background is as follows: She grew up in Ramallah, West Bank, and arrived in the US on a visitor’s visa in 2016. Her mother, a US citizen, provided her with temporary accommodation in Paterson, New Jersey. Kordia later transitioned to a student visa and had her green card application approved in 2021.

However, she received incorrect advice from a teacher, leading to the expiration of her student visa in 2022. Before her arrest, Kordia worked as a server at a Middle Eastern restaurant and cared for her autistic half-brother.

Kordia’s detention is linked to her involvement in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, which has resulted in significant loss of life among her relatives. According to reports, more than 200 of her relatives have been killed since the start of the conflict in October 2023.

If deported, Kordia would be handed over to the Israeli government. She was initially arrested in April 2024 during a protest outside Columbia University but was later released. On March 13, 2025, she appeared at the ICE headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, for what she believed to be routine immigration questions, and was subsequently detained.

Kordia’s detention has been ongoing since then, with her being held at Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Other protesters involved in the Columbia campus demonstrations have been released, but Kordia remains in detention.

Source: Al Jazeera