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Leqaa Kordia Released from ICE Jail After More Than a Year in Custody

HeadlineMar 17, 2026

In Texas, Leqaa Kordia walked free from an ICE jail on Monday after more than a year in custody. Kordia was arrested during the 2024 Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia University. Those charges were dropped, but Kordia was later detained at a routine immigration check-in in New Jersey. This week an immigration judge ordered her released on a $100,000 bond. It was the third time a judge ruled in her favor, despite the government blocking her release twice. While in custody, Kordia was hospitalized following a seizure, and her legal team said her legs were chained to her bed and she was denied access to her lawyer or family. Kordia was the last person still held in detention from the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activists.

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