ICE releases Palestinian protester after a year in detention

Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday released Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman from the West Bank, according to the Texas Civil Rights Project, part of Kordia’s legal team. She had been in custody for over a year at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. She was freed on a $100,000 bond after an immigration judge ordered her release, according to the Associated Press.

​​DHS maintains that Kordia is illegally in the United States after violating the terms of her visa, a spokesman told CNN after her release.

Kordia was one of many people arrested at a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University. ICE officers later detained her in March 2025 after she overstayed her student visa, which expired in 2022. Homeland Security officials accused Kordia of supporting terrorism at the time of her ICE arrest. An immigration judge ordered her release two previous times, but the government filed stay notices and an appeal to prevent it, according to her legal team.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said Kordia was unjustly jailed for exercising her First Amendment rights. She intended to travel back to her family in New Jersey, he said. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he asked President Trump to ensure her release during a meeting last month.

How did she react upon her release? Kordia, who is Muslim, said she was grateful to God and her legal team. She was excited to be home with her family, according to a video posted on social media. She planned to fight for people she believed were unjustly detained in the facility, she said.

Dig deeper: Read Travis K. Kircher’s report on Kordia’s initial detainment.