US family demands pro-Palestine protester release as Leqaa Kordia is rushed to hospital from a US detention centre, raising concerns over her safety and rights.
Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian activist, has been hospitalized following a seizure while in US immigration detention, prompting her family to demand her immediate release.
Loved ones say they were left in the dark for more than 12 hours about Kordia’s condition and whereabouts, describing their interactions with immigration officials as “stonewalled, like hardcore,” according to her cousin Hamzah Abushaban.
The family’s urgent calls for transparency underscore long-standing concerns about her treatment while in custody.
Kordia has now been released from the hospital, but contact with her remains limited. Her nearly yearlong detention began after she participated in pro-Palestine demonstrations at Columbia University in 2024, making her the only protester from that event still held by US immigration authorities. Her activism is deeply personal: nearly 200 members of her extended family have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza.
“She’s a fighter, but she’s not fooling anyone,” Abushaban said. “She’s still very sick.” Advocates warn that continued detention puts her at serious risk, highlighting what they describe as a pattern of arbitrary targeting against pro-Palestine student activists under the Trump administration.
On Monday, Amnesty International joined calls for Kordia’s release. Justin Mazzola, deputy director of research at Amnesty International USA, stated: “She has been arbitrarily detained for over ten months for exercising her rights to free speech and protest.
The Trump administration must stop playing cruel political games with Leqaa’s life. Immediate release is necessary, and there must be accountability for this flagrant violation of human rights.”
Kordia’s lawyers noted that federal judges twice deemed her eligible for release on bond, but immigration officials blocked it by filing discretionary stays while appealing the rulings.
Other pro-Palestinian student activists, such as Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Rumeysa Ozturk, have successfully petitioned for release, though courts warned they could return to custody. Kordia, however, has not been granted the same relief.
Originally from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Kordia arrived in the US in 2016 on a visitor’s visa, later transitioning to a student visa. She applied for permanent residency through her US-citizen mother but allowed her student visa to lapse after being misadvised that her legal status was secure.
While immigration authorities officially claim she was detained for overstaying her visa, initial statements from the Department of Homeland Security suggested she was targeted for her activism.
Advocates describe Kordia’s treatment in detention as “intentionally dehumanising.” She has been held at the Prairieland Detention Facility in Texas, some 1,500 miles from her family in New Jersey.
Visitors report that she has become extremely thin, complains of unsanitary conditions, and suffers from dizziness and fainting due to poor nutrition. Despite these challenges, she has remained a source of support for fellow detainees, showing resilience and humility in the face of adversity.
Legal experts and family members warn that Kordia’s case has not received the attention it deserves. Unlike more public-facing activists, her actions were motivated by personal tragedy and moral conviction, not by a desire for media coverage.
Her family continues to call on US officials to act with empathy and respect her rights, emphasizing that her Palestinian identity should not result in unequal treatment.
“Just because we are Palestinians, we still have to feel suppressed in this country,” Abushaban said. “Empathy should not be selective—it should be for everyone, regardless of background or political views.”
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The family and advocacy groups are urging the US government to ensure Kordia’s release and guarantee her access to proper medical care.
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