One year after Leqaa Kordia, a protester connected to pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, was detained by federal immigration authorities, supporters gathered outside the campus Friday night.
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The rally also marks the end to a days-long relay hunger strike, in solidarity, calling for Leqaa Kordia’s release
In an op-ed published this week, her mother wrote that her daughter’s mental and physical health is deteriorating behind bars
Organizers say Kordia’s detention is retaliation for protesting at the school
“This one week is really a traumatic week for those of us on campus. We watched our students and community members be targeted by [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement],” Shayoni Mitra, a Barnard faculty member, said.
The rally also marks the end of a days-long relay hunger strike, in solidarity, calling for her release.
“We began on the one-year anniversary of the kidnapping of Mahmoud Khalil. And we ended today on the one-year anniversary of Leqaa Kordia,” Barnard professor Rebecca Jordan-Young said.
Kordia was not a student at the school. Organizers said her detention is retaliation for protesting.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to NY1’s request for comment, but in a previous response, a spokesperson wrote, in part: “She violated the terms of her student visa … Kordia was also found to be providing financial support to individuals living in nations hostile to the U.S.”
Kordia remains an immigration detention in Texas.
In an op-ed published this week, her mother wrote that her daughter’s mental and physical health is deteriorating behind bars.
“This is not the kind of country that I want to live in when people are held captive for exercising their right to free speech,” Columbia professor Jennifer Hirsch said.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has called on President Donald Trump to drop this case, and three others of Columbia students who are not detained.
Columbia said it supports the right to protest, adding university leadership never requested or coordinated ICE’s presence on campus.
On Friday, for a third time, a judge ordered Kordia to be released on bond. Her mother claimed the government has used technicalities to keep her daughter in custody.