Since March 13, 2025, Leqaa Kordia (33 years old) has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and held in Prairieland Detention Center in North Texas, more than a thousand miles away from her family and community in New Jersey. 

In the past several years, Leqaa, like millions of people across the country, has participated in protests calling for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and for the freedom and liberation of Palestinians. Leqaa herself has lost more than 170 members of her extended family in Gaza. 

Leqaa grew up in the occupied West Bank and has lived in Paterson, New Jersey, for the last nine years. She is a daughter, a sister, a caregiver, a coworker, and a beloved member of her community. 

Leqaa was targeted because she used her First Amendment right and attended a protest for Gaza outside Columbia University in April 2024. She was arrested at that protest; the charge was later dismissed, and she returned to her life. Nearly a year later, ICE flagged her participation in that demonstration and used it as the basis to arrest her and place her in removal proceedings.

Despite being granted bond twice by an immigration judge - first in April 2025 and then again in August 2025 - Leqaa remains confined by ICE. Both times, ICE blocked her release by utilizing legal mechanisms at its disposal to keep people detained without evidence. Last June, a federal magistrate judge in Texas recommended that Leqaa be released, holding that the "automatic stay" — a simple checkbox filing requiring almost no justification — used by ICE to block her release was likely unconstitutional.

Leqaa should be home. Her detention is unjust and retaliatory, and it reflects a McCarthy-era weaponization of immigration law to punish political speech, intimidate communities, and suppress organizing for Palestinian liberation. 

ACTIONS TO TAKE:

1. Call and email your Members of Congress and demand they publicly place pressure on the DHS, Secretary Noem, etc., to facilitate Leqaa’s immediate release 
2. Join our Free Leqaa Power Hour on Wednesday, February 18th, at 1 pm EST to hear from speakers and collectively make calls for Leqaa.
3. Amplify Leqaa’s experience on social media; do not let her story be buried. 

SAMPLE POSTS:

• If the government can detain someone for protesting genocide, none of our rights are safe. Leqaa Kordia is being punished for Palestinian advocacy. Members of Congress must publicly confront DHS and demand her release. #FreeLeqaaKordia

• Leqaa Kordia has been locked in ICE detention for nearly a year for exercising her constitutionally protected rights. #FreeLeqaaKordia

• DHS targeted and detained Leqaa Kordia for protesting genocide. She must be released immediately. 

While detained, Leqaa has continued to speak out. She has written powerful letters and statements asserting her humanity, her faith, and her refusal to be silenced. Her loved ones have shared her words through @freeleqaakordia, and she has publicly documented her experience in a national op-ed.

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