Palestinian Activist Leqaa Kordia Released from U.S. Immigration Detention After Judge's Order

Palestinian activist Leqaa Kordia, 33, has been released from a U.S. immigration detention facility in Texas following a federal judge's ruling, marking the end of over a year in custody. Kordia, who grew up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, walked free from the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on Monday and was reunited with her family in New Jersey.

Her release comes after Immigration Judge Tara Naselow-Nahas issued a $100,000 bond order on Friday, the third such hearing after two previous bond orders were automatically blocked by the government. The judge openly criticized the government's arguments against Kordia's release, calling them "disingenuous." While she is now free, her immigration case is still ongoing.

U.S. immigration authorities initially detained Kordia in 2025, citing an expired student visa. Her legal team, however, maintained that she was actively pursuing legal residency at the time of her arrest. Authorities also linked her detention to her participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University in 2024, during a period when the Trump administration intensified efforts to deport foreign nationals involved in campus protests against Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

Kordia's release was celebrated by multiple human rights organizations and Democratic lawmakers who had campaigned on her behalf. Amnesty International reported that she lost 175 family members during Israel's ongoing war in Gaza. Her case also attracted attention after she was briefly hospitalized last month following a seizure, with supporters describing the detention conditions as inhumane.

Her case has reignited a broader national debate over civil liberties, free speech, and due process rights for immigrants and activists. Critics argue that the government has wrongly labeled pro-Palestinian advocacy as antisemitism and extremism, raising serious racial profiling and constitutional concerns. Kordia's release is widely viewed as a significant moment in that ongoing fight for immigrant and protest rights in the United States.