After spending two consecutive Ramadans behind bars, Leqaa Kordia was freed from US immigration detention on Monday, in what her lawyers have described as a "staggering" $100,000 bond.
Her legal team said the bond was "nonetheless...paid immediately".
The 33-year-old Palestinian immigrant, whose home is in New Jersey, was released from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, after the Trump administration chose not to challenge what was a third release order by an immigration judge.
It had previously appealed the first and second orders for her release.
"I’m free! I’m free! Finally, after one year," Kordia said as she walked out to a group of waiting supporters, with a Palestinian keffiyeh draped around her shoulders.
“There is a lot of injustice in this place,” she added. “There is a lot of people that shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
Kordia's cousin, Hamzah Abushaban, told Middle East Eye on Tuesday that Kordia was in relatively good spirits and already at the mosque for Ramadan prayers by Monday evening.
Six transgender Idahoans filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the state’s new bathroom law, which...
After hours spent carefully preparing her cakes, Abrar Abdu stood stunned in silence before her oven. In...
According to the Global Sumud Flotilla aid mission, at least 15 boats were raided, with those...
Israeli authorities are using access to water as a weapon against Palestinians, including by systematically depriving...
