NEW YORK: A Palestinian woman who was the last person still in immigration detention after the Trump administration’s 2025 crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists was released Monday after a year in custody, according to her lawyers.
Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old from the West Bank who has lived in New Jersey since 2016, had been held in a US immigration detention center in Texas since last March. Kordia was among roughly 100 people arrested outside Columbia University during protests at the school in 2024.
An immigration judge had ordered her released on bond three times. The government challenged the first two rulings, but Kordia was freed Monday after it did not challenge the third.
She was recently hospitalized for three days following a seizure after fainting and hitting her head at the privately run detention facility.
“We are overwhelmed with relief and gratitude at the release of our beloved Leqaa Kordia,” said Hamzah Abushaban, Kordia’s cousin, in a statement from her lawyers. “This past year has taken an unimaginable toll on Leqaa and our entire family.”
