Only Protester Still Jailed After Trump Campus Crackdown Speaks Out as Government Appeals Judge’s Findings

Her case remains stalled by an unusual government appeal over family remittances that an immigration judge deemed legitimate.

Overview

Leqaa Kordia, 32, has been held at ICE’s Prairieland Detention Center in Texas since March, the lone protester still incarcerated after the administration’s sweep of pro-Palestinian activists.
Government lawyers are contesting bond and appealing an immigration judge’s finding that $16,900 sent over eight years were family support, keeping her detained for more than 200 days.
DHS assembled dossiers on noncitizen protesters and obtained NYPD records from Kordia’s briefly held and later dismissed 2024 arrest by citing a money-laundering probe.
A DHS release promoted her arrest as part of a deportation push against those engaging in “pro-terrorist activities” and mistakenly labeled her a Columbia student.
In her first interview from detention, Kordia said she protested after relatives in Gaza described hunger and fear, while officials argue she fell out of legal status after leaving school in 2022.