NJ woman who protested at Columbia University is released from ICE detention

Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Mar 16, 2026

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A New Jersey resident who was arrested during a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University was released from federal immigration custody on Monday, her lawyers said.

Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman, was held for more than a year in a Texas detention center, where she said she had a seizure and faced inhumane conditions.

Kordia was not a student at Columbia, but was one of five people linked to the Morningside Heights campus whom Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged President Trump to drop their immigration cases against. Kordia, whose April 2024 NYPD arrest at Columbia was sealed, was taken into ICE custody just under a year later, in March 2025.

“In my meeting with President Trump last month, we discussed ICE’s actions at Columbia University,” Mamdani said in a statement. “I asked that the federal government release Leqaa Kordia and drop the cases against four others.”

“I am grateful that Leqaa has been released this evening from ICE custody after more than a year in detention for speaking up for Palestinian rights.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Kordia’s student visa had expired and accused her of providing financial support to people in “nations hostile to the U.S.” — an allegation that Kordia’s lawyers have denied, and said may refer to payments she made to Palestinian family members.

“The facts of this case have not changed: Leqaa Kordia is in the country illegally after violating the terms of her visa. The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system, and will continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country,” the DHS statement read.

Kordia is believed to be the last-known Columbia protester in immigration detention, after current and former students — including Mahmoud Khali, Mohsen Mahdawi and Yunseo Chung — were released on bail while fighting deportation. Mahdawi’s case was previously tossed by an immigration judge; the Trump administration appealed the ruling on Monday.

A fifth noncitizen associated with Columbia, Ellie Aghayeva, has no known involvement in the protests and was released the same day she was detained at Mamdani’s urging.

Kordia’s detention also raised questions about possible NYPD violations with the Trump administration, sparking a probe into whether police unlawfully shared a report with federal immigration authorities that included sealed arrest records.

“Leqaa should not have spent a single moment in ICE detention, let alone an entire year,” Amal Thabateh, a staff attorney at CLEAR, a legal services clinic at CUNY, said in a statement.

“Leqaa, like others, was punished for speaking out in defense of Palestinians, including her own family. While it took too many months and too many bond hearings for Leqaa to be released, a just result is finally here.”

Kordia had been ordered released by an immigration judge three times, but remained in detention the first couple of times because DHS invoked automatic and discretionary stays, according to her lawyers.

Kordia’s cousin, Hamzah Abushaban, said the past year had taken an “unimaginable toll” on Kordia and their family, who had already lost relatives during Israel’s war in Gaza.

“No family should have to endure what ours has experienced,” he said in a statement. “Today, we celebrate Leqaa’s return home. Tomorrow, we continue the fight for justice.”

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