For a third time and on the anniversary of her arrest, an immigration judge has ordered Leqaa Kordia, 33 — a Palestinian woman arrested during a meeting with immigration officers — released from ICE detention on bond, but it’s unclear if she’ll be freed.
Kordia was arrested March 13, 2025, for allegedly overstaying her expired visa, which the Department of Homeland Security said terminated on Jan. 26, 2022. Her arrest was one of several that targeted pro-Palestinian demonstrators like Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi.
Columbia students, professors, and supporters gather at the university to rally in support of Mahmoud Khalil, Leqaa Kordia, and the numerous other community members who have been unlawfully detained by ICE in New York City, March 9, 2026.
Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
Kordia also was arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest outside Columbia University on April 30, 2024, but all charges against her were promptly dismissed.
DHS officials have also claimed Kordia has provided financial support to people living in countries hostile to the United States. Kordia’s attorneys say the payments in question were made to relatives displaced by the war in Gaza.
“I’m deeply grateful for all the people who attended today’s bond hearing on the one-year mark of my detention,” Kordia in a statement released by her attorneys Friday. “To see so many people during the hearing today made me feel loved and supported, and it made me confident that freedom is near. All I want is for the government to finally release me now so I can go home to my family. Until then, I’ll continue speaking up for the basic rights and freedom of all people, from Texas to Palestine.”
The government has twice invoked an automatic stay of the bond order so that they can appeal the decision to release Kordia, which has extended her time in detention. She’s now been detained longer than any other pro-Palestinian demonstrator targeted by the Trump administration.
Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil speaks during a press conference on the one-year anniversary of his ICE arrest, March 9, 2026.
Cayla Bamberger/New York Daily News via Newscom
“So this our third bond hearing. I have heard testimony, I have seen thousands of pages of evidence now being presented by the respondent, very little evidence presented by the government in any of this,” Judge Tara Naselow-Nahas said during Friday’s hearing in Dallas, Texas. “I still believe that respondent poses next to no flight risk.”
Naselow-Nahas set Kordia’s bond at $100,000.
After the judge ordered Kordia’s release the second time, in August 2025, the government said the set bond of $20,000 was not enough to mitigate the risk she may flee once released. In court Friday, Justice Department attorney Anastasia Norcross said “no amount of bond” would be sufficient to ensure her presence at future proceedings.
Leqaa Kordia, second from right, demonstrates with pro-Palestianian protesters as they gather near a main gate at Columbia University in New York City, April 30, 2024.
Craig Ruttle/AP
When asked, Norcross said she could not say whether the government would again invoke an automatic stay of the order to release Kordia.
Kordia’s attorneys say their client’s health is at risk if she continues to be detained. She suffered a seizure in February and was sent to the hospital for three days, during which time she claimed she was shackled at her wrists and ankles, according to court documents.
An ABC News request for comment sent to the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately receive a response.
