"Alhamdullah (thank God) I am free, after a long hard year. It wasn't easy in ICE's dungeons. Kordia was freed Monday on a $100,000 bond after an immigration judge ordered her release on Friday, her lawyers said. It's the third time a judge has ordered her release. The Department of Homeland Security challenged the first two rulings and kept her in detention."
"Kordia - who was not a student at Columbia and was not involved in political student organizing - was first arrested by New York City police during a protest outside the gates of the school in 2024, but the charges against her were dropped. The New York City Police Department later shared information about her arrest with the Trump administration."
"We are overwhelmed with relief and gratitude at the release of our beloved Leqaa Kordia. This past year has taken an unimaginable toll on Leqaa and our entire family. In February, Kordia was hospitalized for a seizure and unreachable by her lawyers and family for three days, renewing nationwide calls for her release."
Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman living in New Jersey for a decade, was detained in March 2024 after protesting near Columbia University against Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza, which killed nearly 200 of her family members. Initially arrested by New York City police during the protest, charges were dropped, but information about her arrest was shared with the Trump administration. She was subsequently arrested during a voluntary immigration check-in and held in ICE custody for a year. An immigration judge ordered her release three times; the Department of Homeland Security challenged the first two orders. After hospitalization for a seizure in February, nationwide calls for her release intensified. Kordia was finally freed on a $100,000 bond in March 2025.
Read at RNS
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