“Leqaa Kordia does not belong in detention,” Booker says after activist is returned to ICE custody
Sen. Cory Booker on Tuesday called for the immediate release of Leqaa Kordia, a New Jersey resident and Palestinian activist who has been held in immigration detention for nearly a year, saying federal authorities sent her back to custody after a hospitalization tied to a reported seizure.
Leqaa Kordia has been detained for nearly a year simply for exercising her free speech rights. A magistrate judge recommended her release, and the Trump administration ignored it. After being hospitalized for a seizure, DHS sent her back to detention thousands of miles from her…
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) February 11, 2026
In a post on X, the New Jersey Democrat said Kordia had been detained “for nearly a year” for exercising free speech rights, and claimed a magistrate judge recommended her release but that the Trump administration ignored the recommendation. Booker also said Kordia was hospitalized after a seizure and that the Department of Homeland Security sent her back to detention “thousands of miles” from her family rather than allowing her to recover. Kordia, Booker wrote, “does not belong in detention.”
Kordia’s case has drawn attention from immigrant-rights and civil-liberties organizations, who argue she has been kept in custody through procedural steps even after an immigration judge determined she could be released on bond. Advocates say she has been held at the Prairieland Detention Center in North Texas and has experienced recurring health problems while in detention, including dizziness and fainting episodes, and that her family and attorneys had limited access to information during her hospitalization.
A Reuters report published this week said Kordia was detained in 2025 and has argued she was targeted for pro-Palestinian activism connected to demonstrations at Columbia University, while the government has framed the matter around immigration enforcement tied to her status.
The broader legal fight over her continued detention has included litigation in federal court. In a separate 2025 ruling covered by KERA, U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver recommended Kordia’s release while her immigration case was pending, warning that prolonged detention during appeals could deprive her of liberty without an individualized showing that continued confinement is justified.
Kordia’s attorneys and advocacy groups have called for her release following the reported seizure and return to detention, arguing that medical concerns and due-process issues have escalated. DHS and ICE have not publicly detailed her medical condition, and reporting has emphasized that access to information during the hospitalization became a flashpoint for her family and legal team.
The case has become part of a wider political argument over how immigration authorities handle detainees with active legal challenges and medical issues — and how the government weighs enforcement decisions when high-profile political speech is part of the backdrop.
