DALLAS — Today, dozens of Texas state lawmakers sent a joint letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem condemning the unlawful confinement of Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian Muslim woman, who has been detained since March 14, 2025.
Kordia is the last remaining Columbia University protester still in ICE custody. In March 2025, she went to a routine immigration interview in New Jersey. Instead of answers, she was thrown into an unmarked van and flown 1,500 miles to a detention center in Alvarado, Texas (south of Fort Worth), where she has been held ever since. Her protest-related charges were dismissed. An immigration judge granted her bond, and DHS has still kept her locked up (https://apnews.com/article/leqaa-kordia-trump-palestinian-protests-campus-crackdown-ed4bf05659d889a2a9a36e7181786971) .
The Trump administration has admitted (https://muslimadvocates.org/2025/08/leqaa-kordia-raises-new-evidence/) it targeted Kordia for her advocacy for Palestinian lives. Nearly 200 of her family members have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.
READ THE LETTER FROM LEGISLATORS DEMANDING THE END TO UNLAWFUL ICE DETAINMENT OF LEQAA KORDIA HERE.
The letter urges DHS to release Leqaa immediately and argues that “the federal administration’s ongoing and shameful confinement is part of its broader crackdown on freedom of expression and its criminalization of peaceful protest, undermining the protections of the U.S. Constitution to advance their own authoritarian political agenda.”
“What is happening to Leqaa should shake every Texan to their core, no matter their politics.” said Rep. Salman Bhojani, who led the letter. “This is the government sending a chilling message: speak out, protest, challenge power—and you can be punished for it. That is not who we are, and it is not what the Constitution guarantees. When reports from federal custody raise serious concerns about civil rights and religious freedom, this is no longer just one person’s story. It is a warning to all of us. Texans must demand accountability, transparency, and immediate action to protect our constitutional rights—because if we stay silent now, none of our freedoms are safe.”
“The first amendment is not negotiable,” said Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu. “The federal government cannot lock someone up because they don’t like what she said at protest. For absolutely no legal reason, the Trump administration has detained Leqaa, held her in isolation, denied her the ability to practice her faith, and refused to release her even after a judge ordered bond. This is un-American, illegal political persecution, and it’s happening right in our backyard in Texas.”
WHAT: Press conference outside of Prairieland Detention Center to demand the release of Leqaa Kordia with legislators, family, and legal representatives.
WHO: Rep. Salman Bhojani, Texas State Representative Hamzah Abushaban, Family of Leqaa Kordia Travis Fife, Staff Attorney, Texas Civil Rights Project
WHEN: Friday, January 30, 2026, 10:00am CT
STREAM: Via Texas Civil Rights Project’s Instagram account and YouTube channel.