Pro-Palestine activist fights detention in Texas
Leqaa Kordia remains the only high-profile, pro-Palestine non-US citizen still confined after campus protest arrests carried out by Trump administration immigration authorities earlier this year. The 32-year-old continues to sit in the Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvaredo, Texas, while her lawyers push for release, as reported by Middle East Eye on August 20th.
On August 18th, her legal team filed an updated petition citing fresh evidence disclosed in the case of AAUP v. Rubio. That lawsuit challenged what plaintiffs described as Marco Rubio’s “policy of ideological deportation”.
During the trial, officials admitted they relied on Canary Mission, a pro-Israel doxxing site, to single out students for immigration detention. It has been clear that the Trump administration is willing to squeeze protestors in wide crackdowns across the country.
Kordia’s lawyers from the Texas Civil Rights Project, Muslim Advocates and the CLEAR Project argued the evidence proved a sweeping policy of “targeting, investigating, surveilling, arresting, confining and seeking the deportation of noncitizens who have expressed support for Palestinians”. They said Kordia’s situation mirrored other activists such as Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk and Mohsen Mahdawi, whose release courts had already ordered.
The Department of Homeland Security contends Kordia overstayed her F-1 visa, terminated in January 2022 for non-attendance, and highlights her arrest during a pro-Gaza protest in New York. The charges were later dropped. Her lawyer Amal Thabateh said Kordia believed she was on track to permanent residency but had followed “faulty advice” that left her out of status.
Supporters call her “the forgotten prisoner”. She describes harsh treatment in detention, including obstacles to prayer and fasting, but insists she remains resilient. In a statement, she wrote: “I write to you from a cold place, hoping my words can carry a little warmth amid the tragedies.”
A magistrate recommended her release in June, but a government appeal has kept her behind bars.
Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org
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