Palestinian protester released from US immigration detention

WASHINGTON - A Palestinian woman was released on bond from a Texas immigration detention centre on March 16 after a judge’s order, the last pro-Palestinian activist held under the Trump administration's crackdown on protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.

Ms Leqaa Kordia, 33, who was raised in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, left the Prairieland Detention Centre in Alvarado, Texas, after more than a year there and was returning to her family in New Jersey, her legal team said.

Immigration authorities say they detained her in 2025 for overstaying her expired student visa though her attorney said she was in the process of securing legal residence.

The US government said local police arrested her at Columbia University in 2024 during pro-Palestinian protests over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Immigration Judge Tara Naselow-Nahas on March 13 ordered her release on US$100,000 (S$127,000) bond, and the immigration case against her will continue.

It was Ms Kordia’s third bond hearing after two previous orders for her to be released on bond were automatically stayed by the government.

Ms Naselow-Nahas said the government’s arguments against release on bond were “disingenuous”.

Ms Kordia was briefly hospitalised last month following a seizure in detention and said detention conditions were “filthy” and “inhumane”.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani raised her case directly with President Donald Trump.

Claiming the demonstrations were anti-Semitic, Mr Trump cracked down on pro-Palestinian protests by attempting to deport foreign protesters and threatening to freeze funds for universities.

Ms Kordia and other protesters, including some Jewish groups, says the government wrongly characterises criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and occupation of Palestinian territories as antisemitic and advocacy for Palestinian rights as support for extremism. REUTERS