🚨 Fighting for justice for Palestinian Leqaa Kordia – Unjustly Arrested and Detained for Speaking Out 🚨

Leqaa Kordia

By: Travis Fife, Staff Attorney, Criminal Legal Program, Texas Civil Rights Project

Imagine attending a protest to voice your support of an issue you are passionate about–freedom of expression, gun rights, reproductive justice, government transparency– millions of Americans take to protests every year to display their most basic form of expression through protest. 

Since March 14th, Leqaa Kordia - a Palestinian woman from New Jersey - has been held at an ICE detention center in North Texas because she attended a protest to express a viewpoint the government doesn’t like. 

32 year-old Kordia has lived in the United States since 2016, when she lawfully entered the country on a tourist visa. Originally born in Jerusalem, Leqaa has lost over 100 family members since October 2023 due to Israel’s military attacks on Gaza. Similarly to many others, Ms. Kordia participated in peaceful protests to demand the violence come to an end and to show support for her loved ones who have been killed abroad.

After being arrested at a protest in New York on April 30, 2024, she learned that charges were dismissed in the “interest of justice” without her ever having to appeal in court. The government’s own classification assessment rated her low risk concerning any danger to the community and flight risk. 

On January 29, 2025, the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order directing agency heads to “identify[] all civil and criminal authorities . . . that might be used to combat anti-Semitism.”  Verified Pet. ¶ 43.  The Executive Order specifically authorized the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary of State to investigate and remove noncitizens believed to be engaged in antisemitic activity. Id. The Executive Order, under the banner of prohibiting “antisemitism,” relied on a 2019 Executive  Order’s  definition  of  antisemitism  that  included  lawful,  protected  speech  such  as “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” 

About a month later, Homeland Security Investigation agents began investigating Kordia for overstaying her student visa, going through almost every aspect of her life. Knowing that HSI agents were attempting to contact her, Kordia visited the ICE Field Office in Newark, New Jersey on March 13, 2025, for what she believed was a simple interview. 

However, after the interview was complete, agents forced her into an unmarked van and flew her to Texas, over 1500 miles from her home. 

During detention, Ms. Kordia’s basic rights have been violated on numerous occasions. Upon arrival at Prairieland Detention Facility on March 14, 2025, the facility was severely overcrowded. She was one of fifty-five people in a twenty-person room. She slept on the ground, with only a thin mattress and a blanket, surrounded by other people, cockroaches, and bugs. 

In addition to these harsh conditions, Ms. Kordia continues to face countless barriers to practicing her faith. Despite various requests, she has been denied reasonable accommodations that are essential to her following her religion, including not meeting dietary restrictions, refusing to provide a clean space to pray or a prayer mat, and withholding modest clothing that covers her back. 

As the country faces a rising wave of authoritarian immigration enforcement, we cannot look away from what’s happening to Leqaa—and to others like her across the U.S.

"The only reason Ms. Kordia is confined 1,500 miles from home and being denied religious liberty while she's confined is because the president didn't like what she had to say,” I said in an interview with KERA News. 

Leqaa Kordia

 Ms. Kordia is not alone in these attacks toward her freedom. Her case is a chilling example of how the current administration is targeting and weaponizing immigration enforcement to suppress the voices of those that speak out against Israel’s aggression crimes towards Palestine. 

Despite an immigration judge granting  Kordia bail, DHS refuses to release her! 

On April 30th, TCRP and partners - SPLC, Muslim Advocates, the CLEAR project, and Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel - filed a Habeas Corpus Petition, requesting her immediate release. 

This case is a chilling example of how the current administration weaponizes immigration enforcement to suppress our communities.

TCRP and partners are currently preparing for a hearing on Ms. Kordia’s case to determine whether or not she will be released. We are determined to fight for Leqaa Kordia’s freedoms and to uphold the constitution for all those in Texas!

We need YOUR help to fight against this unconstitutional civil rights issue!

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