Overview
- Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Leqaa Kordia suffered a seizure on Feb. 6 and was admitted to Texas Health Huguley Hospital before being discharged and sent back to Prairieland Detention Center.
- Her family and lawyers say DHS and ICE withheld her hospital location and condition for days, with counsel learning key details only through a journalist’s inquiry.
- Immigration judges have twice ordered Kordia’s release, but government discretionary stays and appeals have kept her in custody for nearly a year.
- Kordia remains the last person targeted in connection with the Columbia University pro-Palestine protests who is still in ICE detention, as rights advocates and public figures, including Amnesty International and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, call for her immediate release.
- DHS cites an alleged student-visa overstay and notes her prior protest arrest, while Kordia reports deteriorating health in detention and Amnesty says about 175 of her relatives were killed in Gaza.