New York — A Palestinian woman, who was the last person to remain in detention following the Trump administration’s 2025 crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists, was released Monday after a year in detention, according to her lawyer.
Liqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old from the West Bank who has lived in New Jersey since 2016, has been held in a US immigration detention center in Texas since last March. Cordia was among about 100 people arrested outside Columbia University during protests at the school in 2024.
The immigration judge had ordered her released on bail three times. The government appealed the first two rulings, but Cordia was released on Monday after not appealing the third ruling.
She was recently hospitalized for three days following a seizure after she fainted and hit her head at the privately run detention centre.
Hamza Abu Shaaban, Kordia’s cousin, said in a statement issued by her lawyer: “We are overwhelmed with relief and gratitude for the release of our beloved Kordia.” “The past year has taken an unimaginable toll on Encounter and our entire family.”
Cordia said she joined the 2024 demonstration after Israel killed dozens of her relatives in Gaza, where she maintains deep personal ties. “My way to help my family and my people was to take to the streets,” she told The Associated Press in October.
The charges against her were dropped due to the protest and were sealed. Information about her arrest was later provided to the Trump administration by the New York City Police Department, which said it was told the records were needed as part of a money laundering investigation.
Cordia was arrested while checking in on March 13, 2025, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New Jersey. She was immediately arrested and airlifted to the Prairieland Detention Center south of Dallas.
She was among a number of people arrested after the Trump administration began using its immigration enforcement powers against noncitizens who criticized or protested Israeli military actions in Gaza, and several students and researchers at American universities.
Also among them was Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student at Columbia University who was arrested last March and spent three months detained in an immigration prison in Louisiana before being released.
But while the arrest of campus activists like Khalil drew condemnation from elected officials and human rights advocates, Cordia was not a student or part of a group that might have provided support, so her case has remained largely out of the public eye.
Federal officials accused Cordia of overstaying her visa while scrutinizing payments she sent to relatives in the Middle East. Cordia said the money was intended to help family members suffering during the war.
The immigration judge found “overwhelming evidence” that Cordia was telling the truth about the payments.
At a hearing Friday, Cordia’s lawyers said she suffers from a neurological condition that worsened while in detention, putting her at risk for seizures. They reiterated that she can stay with her American citizen family members and does not pose a flight risk.
Immigration Judge Tara Naslow agreed.
“I heard testimony. I saw thousands of pages of evidence presented by the defendant, and very little evidence presented by the government on any of this,” Naslow said.
Department of Homeland Security attorney Anastasia Norcross said the government opposes Cordia’s release, regardless of bail. She did not say at the time whether she would appeal for a third time.
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