"I don't know what to say. I'm free! I'm free! Finally, after one year. There is a lot of injustice in this place. There is a lot of people that shouldn't be here in the first place."
"The Trump administration began using its immigration enforcement powers on noncitizens who had criticized or protested Israel's military actions in Gaza, many students and scholars at American universities. Among them was Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student involved in campus protests who spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail before being freed."
Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank living in New Jersey, was released from a Texas immigration detention center after one year in custody. Her detention stemmed partly from her participation in a 2024 protest outside Columbia University. An immigration judge ordered her release on bond three times; the government challenged the first two rulings but did not challenge the third, leading to her release on a $100,000 bond. Kordia expressed joy at her freedom while committing to advocate for others still detained. Her case exemplifies the Trump administration's use of immigration enforcement against noncitizens who criticized Israel's military actions in Gaza, affecting numerous students and scholars at American universities.
#immigration-detention #pro-palestinian-activism #campus-protests #trump-administration-enforcement #gaza-conflict
Read at www.npr.org
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