Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman who took part in pro-Palestinian protests in the United States, remains in immigration detention months after being arrested, while all other prominent activists have been released. The 32-year-old has been held in a Texas facility since March for overstaying her visa, according to her lawyers.
Kordia, who has lived in New Jersey since 2016, said she joined demonstrations after more than 170 relatives were killed in Gaza. She described feeling helpless, unable to give her family a voice from detention. The US government has suggested her money transfers to relatives in the Middle East could indicate ties to terrorists, a claim her legal team denies.
In a recent ruling, a federal judge found the Trump administration unlawfully targeted protesters, but the decision does not apply to Kordia’s case in a conservative district. Her immigration attorney, Sarah Sherman-Stokes, said the government has offered no evidence to justify her indefinite detention.
Kordia came to the US in 2016 on a visitor’s visa and later obtained a student visa. She left school in 2022, which she says she mistakenly believed was covered by her mother’s residency application. She worked as a server while caring for her half-brother before the protests began.
