AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we continue our conversation with the Palestinian activist Leqaa Kordia. She was recently freed after spending more than a year in an ICE jail, the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. She was arrested in March of 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s campaign targeting student activists and other activists who advocated for Palestinian rights.

Leqaa grew up in the occupied West Bank, now lives in New Jersey. In April 2024, Leqaa was arrested during a Gaza solidarity protest at Columbia University. The charges were dropped the following day. But in March of last year, she was detained after voluntarily meeting with immigration officials in New Jersey with her lawyer. Leqaa is believed to have been the last person held in detention from the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activists. In mid-March, she was freed after a judge ordered her release on $100,000 bond.

Leqaa Kordia joins us now. In Part 1 of our conversation, you talked about how you were taken. You talked about the conditions in the jail. If you could go back in time — your mom is a U.S. citizen; you came here about a decade ago — to the West Bank, where you lived, and what your experience was like there, and why you protested at Columbia University? You were part of the pro-Palestinian protests.

LEQAA KORDIA: As I mentioned before, I grew up under a military occupation. I grew up in apartheid. I grew up in a place where if I go from a city to a city, or if I want to go to my school or college, I have to go through a military checkpoint, where, like, frequently, there are a lot of colonial settlements also. Like, you have to deal with the Israeli soldiers and the Israeli settlers at the same time. So, my life in the West Bank was basically just like living under the occupied — the occupation for daily life, which is like it becomes normal. It shouldn’t be normal, but it becomes our daily life. This is our daily life, literally.

I was separated, actually, from my own family in Gaza for many years, even before 2023. The siege on Gaza was like — it’s now actually more than 20 years. So, because of that, I couldn’t visit my family in Gaza, and my family, they couldn’t visit us in the West Bank. My father had a job opportunity in the West Bank, so that’s why he lived in the West Bank with us. Now if I see my cousins or my uncles in the streets, maybe I’m not going to recognize them because of that.

So, experiencing all of this, experiencing all of this injustice, experiencing the military curfew and raids and all of this, like, I grew up. I grew up seeing people dying. I grew up — sorry. I grew up on, like, my friends and classmates being arrested and thrown into jail, tortured, starved, abused every single day. This is my life as a Palestinian. I had no choice. I have no choice but to speak up for my freedom, for the freedom of my people, of my family.

And why did I took to the streets in 2024? Actually, Columbia protests, it wasn’t the only protest that I participated in. I participated in many protests in Palestine and in America, continued in America, because, basically, the Palestinian struggle and the genocide didn’t start in 2023. In my opinion, the genocide of the Palestinian people started even before the 1948. I’ve lost 200 family members since 2023, but I’ve also lost other family members before 2023. That’s why it’s not only about 2023. Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you, when — in March, March 8th, it was, of 2025, Mahmoud Khalil was arrested as he was coming back from iftar with his wife, Noor Abdalla, who is a dentist. And they took him. They took Mohsen Mahdawi, right?

LEQAA KORDIA: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: When he went to his interview, his immigration interview in Vermont. As you were observing all this, what were your thoughts?

LEQAA KORDIA: Basically, as a Palestinian, I grew up on our voices being silenced all the time. Anybody who dares to speak up, whether a Palestinian or anybody who supports Palestinian rights to exist or to be free, their voices, our voices, would be silenced. So, this is actually — it’s sad that it wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t something that was “Oh my god! It’s surprising.” It’s sad. As I said before, it shouldn’t be normal, but it’s normal. Apparently, everybody has the right to speak up, everybody has the right to protest, but Palestinians. Freedom of speech comes to Palestine and ends. Freedom of speech come to Palestinians, and it ends. It pains me. It’s really disappointing.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, when you were at Prairieland in Alvarado, Texas, you were held for a year. You had your first seizure, went to the hospital. Although we talked about this in Part 1 of our conversation, explain what happened to you there, and talk about what this brought back for you, the kind of experiences you were having in a prison in Texas, in terms of your own background in the West Bank.

LEQAA KORDIA: So, talking about the seizure, currently, by the way, I have to take this heavy medication, anti-seizure medication, for at least two years, which —

AMY GOODMAN: What caused this? Had you had seizures growing up?

LEQAA KORDIA: No, never. Before, before the detention, I’ve never experienced seizure in my whole life. The doctor diagnosed this lack of sleep, lack of nutritions and stress, which is — of course, I’m in jail.

I spoke before about, like, how the food is horrible. They didn’t give us vegetables. They didn’t give us fruits. The water, you don’t even — you don’t feel like you want to drink water even, because, like, of how dirty the water is. And the conditions, in general, it’s very inhumane. Basically, I can explain or, like, describe this by saying it’s a human crisis.

There are children in ICE detentions, where, by the way, like — also, like, brought this memory of Palestine, me growing up in Palestine, where I would see my classmates will be taken as prisoners into Israeli jails. Like, I’m talking about 13 years old, 15 years old, 16 years old, which, basically, what ICE is doing. I’ve seen and experienced a lot of, like — we’ve heard also, like, a lot of Palestinian prisoners being held for years without trials. And this what’s also ICE is doing. I’ve seen people being held for months without any trial, any courts. So, it will also always, always bring these bad memories, sad memories of Palestine, because there is a lot of similarities of Israel methods and ICE methods.

AMY GOODMAN: You’ve described being chained at the hospital after your seizure. Do you mean handcuffed?

LEQAA KORDIA: No, I mean chained. Chained like an animal. The handcuff will be attached to a chain. It was a heavy chain. I wish I speak better English so I can describe it actually better. But it was very, very heavy chain.

AMY GOODMAN: Your hands and feet?

LEQAA KORDIA: Yes, one of my hands and my feets — my feet, I’m sorry. So, it was very heavy. And I was very weak. I was sick, so I couldn’t even, like, lift my hand. So I was begging them, “Can you please? Just my hand? Like, if you don’t want me to run away or something, I don’t even have the energy to run away.”

AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, a judge at least three times ordered your release. You ultimately were released on $100,000 bond. And I know you can’t get into legal details. But what did that mean to you when you heard that the judge had ordered your release once, and then twice, and then three times?

LEQAA KORDIA: I was very disappointed, because this is not the America that I heard of. The America that I heard of, like, everybody has the right to speak up. Everybody has the right, like freedom of speech. It’s the First Amendment. So, for the government actually to appeal the immigration — the immigration judge’s decision twice, and they appealed a federal judge’s decision, recommendation once also, for, like — and they’re accusing me. They were accusing me of me being dangerous to the community. For what? For calling for a ceasefire? For calling for my — like, the dignity for my people and my family, for a free Palestine? This was very disappointing for me.

AMY GOODMAN: How much could you take in of the support for you from the outside? And how important was that?

LEQAA KORDIA: It was very important. It was very important. And I said it before. I told the people, “Please don’t underestimate anything. Don’t say, like, 'What a letter can make?'” No, it can make a lot. It puts —

AMY GOODMAN: If someone writes a letter.

LEQAA KORDIA: Yes. Even if you can’t send a letter, a prayer can make an effect. Prayers are powerful. I’m a very faithful person. I believe in faith, and I believe in the power of prayer.

I received a big support of the Muslim community in Dallas. And this is another point. They literally brought me all the way from New Jersey to Texas to isolate me from my community and my people, and basically to make me feel lonely and forgotten, isolated and all of that. But they didn’t know that they brought me to the most — to the strongest Muslim community in America.

So, their kindness and their love, their support, it was beyond any words, not just the Muslim community. I’ve received a tremendous amount of support from all around the United States, from the students, from protesters, from housewives, from — like, from everybody, everyone in the community around America.

AMY GOODMAN: When you finally got out of jail in these last weeks, have people talked to you about you being an example for them, both of strength, but of why they’re afraid to speak out, because of how hard the state came down on you?

LEQAA KORDIA: Yes, yes, I’ve heard this. I’ve heard this even before being arrested. Like, people would warn me sometimes, like, “Don’t go to this protest. Like, don’t talk to people a lot about Palestine,” and all of that, because I told you before that we’re used to our voices being silenced.

And when I got out of the jail, also I would hear things like that “You made us proud, your strength. And it’s inspiring,” and all of that. And I’m like, “Without your support, actually, I couldn’t be standing here. I needed you. I needed your support.” And that’s what I’m doing for my other — for my friends who are still behind bars.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you want to tell us one of their stories?

LEQAA KORDIA: There is this lady. Her name is Noor Salman. She’s originally from Iraq. She came to America as a refugee. She has a green card.

AMY GOODMAN: She’s from Iraq?

LEQAA KORDIA: She’s from Iraq originally, but she came to America as a refugee when she was like maybe 7 years old. She’s married to a U.S. citizen. Like, all her life in America — like, she grew up in America, all her life. She didn’t need to go to a check-in or anything. As I mentioned before, she has a green card. One time she received an email saying that she needs to go for a check-in with ICE. And she’s like, “OK, everything is fine. All my papers are fine.” So she went there. As soon as she arrived there, they put shackles on her.

AMY GOODMAN: During her check-in?

LEQAA KORDIA: Yes. They put shackles on her. They didn’t explain anything. And they took her to, like, an ICE detention, somewhere in Texas. And they’ve been transferring her. So, now, currently, she’s not in Prairieland. She’s somewhere else, where, like, we actually didn’t know where she is for like three days or so. Basically, ICE don’t have any allegations against her. Nothing. It’s just her being there. Her mental health has, like, gone very bad for like the past six months. She’s lost a lot of weight.

It’s just like, her story, it’s one example of many other stories, many different stories. I remember, like, being with this old lady. She’s 75 years old. She spent more than 50 years in America. She used to go for her regular check-ins. She used to pay the money, and everything is by the law. She didn’t do anything wrong. Also during her routine check-in, she was arrested. All these elderlies, they will tell me one thing: “All what I want is to die among my family. That’s all what I want.”

AMY GOODMAN: Leqaa, I wanted to end with the words of Mahmoud Khalil talking about you. This is a portion of an op-ed written by Mahmoud Khalil, who was taken by immigration agents on March 8th, International Women’s Day, 2025. It was published in The Guardian during the holy month of Ramadan. The piece is headlined “To my Palestinian sister in ICE detention — I will carry you until you are free.”

He writes, quote, “We refuse to let the world forget us. We speak about our right to live, our right to return, our right to exist, and for that, they try to silence us. Your detention, my detention, the detentions of so many others, they are all pieces of the same story. A story of a people who have been displaced, erased, demonized, yet continue to rise every time the world tells us to disappear. We were born into a struggle we never asked for, yet we carry it because our ancestors did, and because our children must not.

“Palestinian women have always known this in their bones. They are the ones who organized communities when the men were imprisoned or exiled, who defended their homes with the tools available to them — rarely more than presence and persistence. They are the ones who went back to the olive groves the morning after soldiers and settlers had torn through them. They have always been the spine of this struggle. You are in that lineage, Leqaa. Not as a symbol. As yourself.”

That’s a portion of Mahmoud Khalil’s words to you during Ramadan, when you were still in an ICE prison. As we wrap up now, first, have you gotten to spend time with Mahmoud and his wife, Noor Abdalla? And what are your plans for the future?

LEQAA KORDIA: First of all, I remember one of my lawyers reading Mahmoud’s letter to me, and I couldn’t stop crying for maybe two minutes. I was very moved, very — like, it was very emotional. We’re like — we’ve never seen each other before. We’ve never known each other before, but we are — like, Palestine bring us together. We have the same cause. We fight for the same cause. We fight for the freedom of Palestinians.

So, yes, I did meet Mahmoud several times. He’s a wonderful human being. He’s very humble, down to earth.

AMY GOODMAN: He had dinner at Gracie Mansion with the mayor, with Zohran Mamdani.

LEQAA KORDIA: Yes, yes, he did. I saw this.

AMY GOODMAN: On the anniversary.

LEQAA KORDIA: I saw this. Him and his wife are amazing human beings. I believe that his voice is very valuable. Our voices, all the Palestinian voices, matter. He will continue to fight his case. His case is not done yet. He’s continuing to fight for his freedom. It’s not over yet for him, as it’s not over yet for me. Me being released from an ICE dungeon, it’s just the first step. My case is still going on.

I’m still subjected to be deported to Israel, by the way, which is — for a Palestinian, in general, it’s a death penalty. And for an outspoken Palestinian, it’s absolutely a death penalty. So I have no choice but to continue fighting for my freedom. I have no choice but to continue fighting as a Palestinian, because our existence, it’s resistance. Me as a Palestinian, just me breathing, it’s me resisting. We have no choice. They put us in this situation, and we’re going to continue fight.

AMY GOODMAN: Leqaa Kordia, I want to thank you for being with us, Palestinian woman, a protester, who was released from a Texas ICE jail last month after a year in detention.

LEQAA KORDIA: Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: To see Part 1 of our discussion, go to democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.