Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman from the West Bank who has lived in New Jersey since 2016, was freed on March 16, 2026, from the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. She had been in custody for over a year, making her the final individual still detained from the wave of immigration enforcement actions targeting students and activists involved in 2024–2025 campus protests related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Kordia’s detention stemmed in part from her participation in a demonstration outside Columbia University in 2024. The Trump administration’s broader crackdown involved arrests, visa revocations, and deportation proceedings against dozens of international students and scholars accused of ties to pro-Palestinian activism, with officials often citing national security or immigration violations.
An immigration judge had ordered her release on bond three times. The government challenged the first two rulings but did not contest the third, leading to her release on $100,000 bond. Supporters, including family, friends, and advocacy groups, greeted her outside the facility, where she waved and expressed relief.
The case drew attention from civil rights organizations, which argued that many detentions were retaliatory and chilled free speech on campuses. Kordia’s release marks the end of the high-profile immigration detention phase of the crackdown, though legal challenges and policy debates around campus protest rights continue.
Her lawyers stated that she is now focused on reuniting with her community and resuming normal life, while advocates continue to push for broader reforms to protect political expression.
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