Human rights groups and local leaders are urging the release of Lequaa Kordia, a Palestinian immigrant held in ICE custody since March. Kordia was detained after a pro-Palestine protest and despite bond being granted, ICE has blocked her release using an automatic stay. A resolution supporting her release and condemning retaliatory detention practices is being considered by the Paterson City Council.
Published: Dec. 16, 2025, 9:24 p.m.Human rights activists and local leaders are calling for the release of a Palestinian immigrant who has been in ICE custody for nearly 300 days. Lequaa Kordia, who was living in Paterson, has been in custody at ICE ’s Prairieland Detention Facility in Texas since March 13.
CAIR-NJ and other non-profit groups said the 32-year-old was taken into custody because of her participation in a pro-Palestine protest at Columbia University.during a voluntary meeting with immigration officials at the Newark ICE office. At the time, she was in the process of securing legal residency and had her attorney present, Amnesty International said. That was the same day that Kordia participated in a “peaceful” protest at Columbia University, condemning the US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, which claimed the lives of nearly 200 of her family members, according to CAIR-NJ. The organization said she is theDespite bond grants by an immigration judge, ICE used a rarely invoked “automatic stay” to block Kordia’s release, CAIR-NJ said. Paterson councilmen Luis Velez and Ibrahim Omar have sponsored a resolution that urges the Department of Homeland Security to end retaliatory detention practices that infringe upon First Amendment rights. The resolution was scheduled to be heard at a Paterson city council meeting on Tuesday night. “Paterson is taking an important stand for civil rights and the protection of constitutional freedoms,” CAIR-NJ Executive Director Selaedin Maksut said. “Retaliatory detention against individuals exercising their First Amendment rights is unacceptable. We support the City Council’s resolution and call on federal authorities to immediately release Ms. Kordia and end practices that punish lawful political expression. “Standing with Palestinian justice and human rights is not a crime, and no one should be detained for advocating peacefully for the lives and rights of their family and community.”“I want to do something, but I can’t from here,” Kordia said from the Texas detention center. “I can’t do anything.” Advocates have also raised the concern about Kordia being kept in a detention center far from her family and attorney. Amnesty International has also said that the facility has a documented history of human rights violations.
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