She Lost 200 Relatives in Gaza Genocide. Then ICE Took Her.

Hamzah Abushaban, the cousin of Palestinian protester Leqaa Kordia, joins Eugene Puryear and Rania Khalek to demand her release from ICE detention. After nearly a year behind bars, Leqaa’s case has become a flashpoint for the debate on free speech and the treatment of Palestinian activists in the U.S. Born in East Jerusalem, Leqaa Kordia was initially arrested during the 2024 Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia University. Though those charges were dropped, she was re-detained months later during a routine immigration check-in in New Jersey and transferred to a facility in Texas. Despite two judges ordering her release on bond, she remains in custody — isolated, and recently hospitalized after suffering her first-ever seizure while shackled. Abushaban explains the devastating toll of her detention, noting that Kordia has already lost more than 200 family members in the genocide in Gaza. "The only crime she committed was being Palestinian," he says. "She simply exercised her First Amendment right." #breakthroughnews