Leeqa Kordia, detained for over a year, speaks of "injustice in ICE dungeons" during rally in Paterson, N.J.
Leqaa Kordia, a Columbia University protester who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more than a year, spoke out Sunday in Paterson, New Jersey, for the first time since her release last week.
She was welcomed home with hugs and calls for justice by family, fellow advocates, and lawmakers.
"I've seen and experienced so much injustice in ICE dungeons"
Kordia walked out to cheers with a hand on her heart and a smile that said it all.
"I just want to say hamdullah, hamdullah, hamdullah, hamdullah," Kordia said, referring to the Arabic word for "praise be to God."
Kordia was released from Prairieland Detention Center in Texas on March 1 after spending just over a year there. The 33-year-old was arrested during protests at Columbia University in 2024. She was then detained by ICE during an immigration check-in in New Jersey in March of 2025.
Kordia was hospitalized for several days while in custody. Her family said she was chained to her hospital bed.
"I've seen and experienced so much injustice in ICE dungeons," Kordia said. "Lack of sleep, lack of nutrition, and stress caused for my first-ever seizure in my whole life. So now I am on a heavy medication for anti-seizure."
A banner welcoming Kordia back home was displayed at a rally right outside of Paterson City Hall. She arrived just in time for Eid al-Fitr, a major Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan's fasting. She said she's blessed and grateful, but feels a sense of sadness for those still detained.
"I left behind many beautiful, courageous, innocent women and men who all their crime was, [was] just dreaming," Kordia said.
Mahmoud Khalil among those on hand to support Kordia
Among those showing support for Kordia was Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, fellow pro-Palestinian advocates and former Columbia graduate students who were detained by ICE.
"I never felt that I was fully free while I knew that you were suffering in the same place where I was because I know what it means to be detained in these dungeons, without any rights," Khalil said.
"We were targeted for grieving our family members," Mahdawi added. "We were denied our rights to grieve, our rights to speak, our rights to say enough is enough."
Kordia's legal team said its work is certainly not over and that there are several legal steps that are still to come.
"She remains in removal proceedings. She remains at risk of deportation. An immigration judge has previously found that she would be persecuted by the Israeli government if she was removed there. The government has appealed that decision," said Sarah Sherman-Stokes, a clinical associate professor at Boston University's School of Law.