A North Texas elected official is backing a call to release an ICE detainee being held in Texas. “I’m sticking my neck out for the procedural, for the rule of law, for the due process, for adherence to our constitutional rights,” said Rep. Salman Bhojani (D-Euless). Bhojani said he’s advocating for Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian in ICE custody at Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, who was just released from the hospital after experiencing a seizure in custody. “I need accountability, I need transparency, I need communication, I need basic human dignity,” said Bhojani, who has been involved with the case for over a year. In January 2025, Bhojani led a coalition advocating for Kordia to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Bhojani is among her advocates who are questioning the conditions inside the detention center, after the previously healthy woman wound up in the hospital over the weekend. In a statement to NBC 5, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirms Kordia had a seizure, saying, “her admission to the hospital was made out of an abundance of caution to ensure her health and safety.” Kordia’s been detained since March of 2025. A DHS spokesperson says she was arrested “for immigration violations related to overstaying her expired student visa. She violated the terms of her student visa.” The agency also mentions Kordia was arrested by New York police for her involvement in anti-war protests at Columbia University. Kordia’s attorneys say she was not a student at the time, and that a judge dismissed that charge. DHS also alleges that “Kordia was also found to be providing financial support to individuals living in nations hostile to the U.S.” One of Kordia’s attorneys, Travis Fife, says Kordia initially entered the U.S. lawfully. “It is true that she accepted some bad advice and that there was a lapse in her status,” Fife said. He said Kordia was in the process of rectifying her status. “She submitted an asylum application either the day before or right before she turned herself in to ICE custody voluntarily,” Fife said. Fife added that Kordia was sending money to loved ones back home for things like medical procedures, and alleges that the real reason officials arrested her was related to her protesting. “And we think that her prolonged and continued detention as a response to her protected First Amendment expression is a flat violation of the Constitution that should not only worry non-citizens, but also all of us who have our own political, religious, social views on a variety of controversial issues,” Fife said. Kordia’s team is now asking the court for an expedited hearing, based on what they say are continued health risks in detention. An immigration judge has twice found that Kordia should be released on bond. However, federal agencies have been moving to block those orders. Political Science Expert Carlos Rovelo says even for those who hold legal student visas, it’s a gray area. “It’s subjective?” asked NBC 5’s Tahera Rahman. “Absolutely,” said Rovelo, a professor at Dallas College. “Because, you know, in the history of America, there [were] foreign students that went in the streets from Israel, from Saudi Arabia, from Mexico, to tell the authorities, you know, ‘We disagree with you.'” Rovelo says now that behavior has been sanctioned. “They are a guest of the United States. Therefore, if they are a guest, they have to play by the rules that the government is using at this time,” he said. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less