A Palestinian Muslim woman from New Jersey in ICE custody in North Texas since last March was hospitalized over the weekend.
Leqaa Kordia was taken to the Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Burleson after having a seizure at the Prairieland Detention Center, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed Monday.
“Her admission to the hospital was made out of an abundance of caution to ensure her health and safety,” the agency said. “The hospital is monitoring her condition and ICE will continue to ensure she receives proper medical care.”
The Texas Civil Rights Project, part of the legal team that represents Kordia, and her family say they weren’t informed about her condition or whereabouts after she was hospitalized on Friday. They say her health has deteriorated in ICE custody.
“When I saw her last week, separated by wired glass, she was so ill that she could not even lift the phone to her ear to speak to me,” Kordia’s cousin, Hamzah Abushaban, said in a news release. “Her condition was visibly alarming. She looked frail, pale, and exhausted. She told me she feels as though she is ‘slowly dying in here.’”
Her family and legal team are once again demanding her immediate release.
“The government’s silence, combined with her rapid physical decline, raises the gravest fears for her life,” Abushaban said.
At least 30 people have died in ICE custody since President Donald Trump took office a second time.
The DHS spokesperson said detainees have access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. “At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergency care. For many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they receive in their entire lives,” the statement read.
Justin Mazzola, deputy director of research at Amnesty International USA, said Kordia shouldn’t have been detained in the first place. “Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are human rights – they cannot be punished or criminalized,” he said in a statement.
Kordia was detained last March in New Jersey for allegedly overstaying her visa and was transported to the Prairieland Detention Center.
She had been arrested during a 2024 protest at Columbia University against Israel’s war in Gaza. She is the last protester in detention, despite a judge’s recommendation last year to release her while her case is pending.
North Texas Democratic lawmakers joined Kordia’s family and supporters outside the detention center last week but were denied a visit with her.
Kordia’s attorney, Travis Fife, called her hospitalization "a stark reminder of the daily violence ICE inflicts of the tens of thousands they detain.”
“We will not stand idly by imagining the worst,” he said. “We demand transparency for Leqaa and all in detention.”
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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