U.S. Authorities Release Palestinian Activist Liqa Kurdiyah on $100,000 Bail in Texas

U.S. authorities released Palestinian activist Liqa Kurdiyah (33) on bail from a migrant detention center in Texas after a court order, making her the last Palestinian activist detained in what multiple outlets describe as a crackdown on protests against the Israeli war on Gaza.

“One month ago, Mondoweiss reported on what would be Leqaa Kordia’s final hearing to determine bail eligibility while confined in Prairieland Detention Center in North Texas”

Mondoweiss

Amad Update reported that authorities released Kurdiyah “pursuant to a court order” and that her lawyers said she left the Pearland detention center in the city of Alvarado, Texas after “more than a year” there to return to her family in New Jersey.

Mondoweiss

Al Jazeera net similarly said Kurdiyah left Beiriland Detention Center in the city of Alvarado, Texas after “more than a year” and that an immigration judge ordered her release on “$100,000 bail,” with the immigration case to continue.

The Al-Quds Al-Arabi report also framed the release as coming after “more than a year of detention,” with the legal battle not over yet against Trump administration policies toward migrants and dissenters.

In the immediate aftermath, Kurdiyah told reporters, “I don’t know what to say. I’m free... finally, after a full year,” according to Amad Update and also “I don’t know what to say. I’m free at last, after a full year,” according to Al Jazeera net.

The release was conditioned on bail, while the deportation or immigration case remained under review in multiple accounts, including the statement that “the immigration case against her will continue” in Al-Sharq and that “the deportation case still under review” in جريدة القدس.

The accounts tie Kurdiyah’s detention to a student visa dispute and to her participation in protests at Columbia University in 2024.

Amad Update said U.S. immigration authorities detained Kurdiyah in 2025 for “overstaying her student visa,” while her lawyer said she was “in the process of obtaining legal status.”

Oz Arab Media

The Al-Sharq report similarly said immigration authorities detained Kurdiyah in 2025 for overstaying her student visa, though her lawyers said she was in the process of obtaining legal status, and it added that “The U.S. government said local police arrested her at Columbia University in 2024 during protests in support of Palestinians against Israel's war on Gaza.”

Al Jazeera net also stated that “U.S. immigration authorities say her detention in March 2025 was due to exceeding the validity of a student visa,” while her lawyers said she was in the process of obtaining legal status.

Multiple outlets described the bail decision as coming after repeated hearings, with Al Jazeera net saying it was “the third hearing on her bail request, after two previous government orders to release her on bail had been stayed.”

In addition to bail, the outlets stressed that the case would continue in court, with Al Jazeera net saying “with the immigration case against her to proceed in court” and Al-Sharq saying “the immigration case against her will continue.”

Several outlets described Kurdiyah’s health and the conditions of her detention, including hospitalization after a seizure.

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Amd lil-i'lam

Amad Update said “Liqa was briefly hospitalized last month after a seizure during detention,” and it added that she “described the detention conditions as 'dirty' and 'inhumane.'”

جريدة القدس similarly said Kurdiyya’s “health had significantly deteriorated over the past month; she was hospitalized after suffering a seizure caused by psychological stress and mistreatment,” and it repeated that she described the detention environment as “'dirty' and 'inhumane.'”

Al Jazeera net also reported that Kurdiyah “briefly spent a short time in the hospital last month after suffering a seizure during detention, and she described the detention conditions as ‘dirty’ and ‘inhumane.’”

The outlets also linked the detention to broader political pressure on campus protest movements, describing a crackdown launched by the Trump administration against protests in support of Palestinians.

By contrast, Kurdiyah and other protesters rejected that framing, with Al Jazeera net stating that “Kurdiyah and other protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly labels criticism of the Israeli assault on Gaza and the occupation of Palestinian lands as antisemitism.”

The release was portrayed as part of a wider U.S. crackdown on pro-Palestinian protest activity, with Trump’s administration using immigration enforcement and funding threats as leverage.

Amad Update said the arrest came “as part of the crackdown launched by the Trump administration against protests against the Israeli war on Gaza,” and it described Trump’s strategy as “attempting to deport foreign protesters and threatening to freeze funding for universities, arguing that the demonstrations are anti-Semitic.”

Al-Jazeera Net

The same outlet said Liqa and other protesters, “including some Jewish groups,” argued that the government “mislabels criticisms of the Israeli assault on Gaza and the occupation of Palestinian lands as anti-Semitism and that defending Palestinian rights is not support for extremism.”

Al Jazeera net similarly described Trump’s “hardline campaign” as “attempting to deport foreign protesters and threatening to freeze university funding,” and it quoted the administration’s argument that the protests are ‘antisemitic.’

It then contrasted that with the protesters’ view, stating that “Kurdiyah and other protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly labels criticism of the Israeli assault on Gaza and the occupation of Palestinian lands as antisemitism.”

The outlets also described direct political involvement by New York City’s mayor, with Amad Update saying “Zahran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, spoke to President Donald Trump about her case directly.”

While the Kurdiyah release was described as the last Palestinian activist detained in the crackdown, other reporting in the same source set focused on Leqaa Kordia’s earlier release from ICE detention in North Texas and her return to New Jersey.

Mondoweiss reported that Kordia returned to her home in Paterson, N.J., after what it described as “what would be Leqaa Kordia’s final hearing to determine bail eligibility while confined in Prairieland Detention Center in North Texas,” and it said her release was “widely celebrated.”

Al-Jarida al-Quds

The outlet named supporters including Zohran Mamdani and organizations including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and it said “Mahmoud Khalil” met with Kordia at a press conference at Paterson City Hall alongside his wife and fellow activist Dr. Noor Abdalla.

Mondoweiss also described the government’s stated reason for Kordia’s arrest as “a student visa expiration,” and it said DHS lawyers alleged she was potentially tied to terrorism through bank transfers, a claim the outlet said was “proven false” when her lawyers presented evidence identifying payments as remittances to family members with no ties to terrorism.

It further said DHS pointed to Kordia’s arrest at a protest outside Columbia University during the campus demonstrations of 2024, describing them as “pro-Hamas” and supportive of terrorism.

The bail figure for Kordia was also stated in the Mondoweiss account, saying “her third hearing set her bail at $100,000 and facilitated her subsequent release.”