The 33-year-old Columbia University protester was held in an immigration detention center for a year.
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Published March 16, 2026
Requa Cordia, a Palestinian woman who participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in 2024 and was detained in the United States, has been released after a year of detention.
The 33-year-old, who grew up in the occupied West Bank and immigrated to the United States in 2016, had been held in a Texas detention center since March last year.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m free! I’m free! After a year, finally,” Cordia told reporters with a smile after leaving the detention center on Monday.
An immigration judge had ruled that Cordia was eligible for bail three times. Immigration officials appealed the first two sentences, but Cordia was released on $100,000 bail after government lawyers did not challenge the third sentence.
Cordia said she is looking forward to returning home and hugging her mother “very tightly” after her release. But she also said she would continue to fight for those still held in detention centers.
“There’s a lot of injustice in this place,” she said. “There are a lot of people who shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
Cordia, who lost nearly 200 family members in Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, was one of several protesters targeted by immigration authorities for participating in a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia University in 2024.
Until Monday, she was the only person targeted in connection with the protests, even after the release of Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi and others.
Cordia, who was being held at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, was recently hospitalized for three days after suffering a seizure after passing out and hitting his head at the privately run jail.
At Friday’s hearing, Cordia’s lawyer said he had neurological symptoms that worsened while in custody, putting him at increased risk of seizures. They reiterated that she could stay with her U.S. citizen family and was not a flight risk.
Immigration Judge Tara Nasrow agreed.
“I’ve heard testimony, I’ve seen thousands of pages of evidence submitted by the defendants, and the government has submitted very little of any of it,” Nasrow said.
