Leqaa Kordia’s family said they knew nothing about the incident when 33-year-old Leqaa Kordia was rushed from an immigration detention center in Texas to a nearby hospital late last week.

Cordia’s family and legal representatives said they had no information about her whereabouts or condition for more than 12 hours. Her cousin, Hamzah Abushaban, said the family was “like die-hards trying to get nowhere” in their search for answers.

“Full transparency: Many people in her family thought she might have died, especially as her condition was kept secret,” Abu Shaaban told Al Jazeera. “Sometimes silence speaks for itself.”

Her family and legal team confirmed on Tuesday that she had been discharged from hospital. Cordia suffered a seizure, but her family has only had brief contact with her since the medical emergency.

The ordeal is the latest twist in Cordia’s near-collapse. One year of detentionThe matter began when she, along with several protesters, was targeted by immigration officials for participating in a 2024 pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia University.

Cordia remains the only person targeted at the demonstrations who remains in immigration detention.

Her protests were motivated by personal loss: nearly 200 of her family members were killed in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

Abu Shaaban said her latest medical emergency highlighted the dangers she faces from continued detention, not to mention the urgent need for her release.

“She’s a fighter, but she doesn’t fool anyone,” he said. “She is still very ill”

“arbitrary detention”

On Monday, Amnesty International joined calls for Cordia’s release, echoing her family’s claims that she was unfairly targeted for her support for Palestine.

“She has been arbitrarily detained for more than ten months for exercising her right to freedom of expression and protest,” Justin Mazzola, deputy director of research at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement.

“The Trump administration must stop playing cruel political games with Laika’s life. Laika Cordia must be released immediately and held accountable for the blatant violation of her human rights.”

Cordia’s attorneys also alleged unfair treatment, noting that a federal judge twice ruled she was eligible for bail.

Each time, her release was blocked after immigration officials filed a request for “discretionary stay” to detain her while the government appealed.

President Donald Trump’s administration has deported a series of student activists since March 2025. They include Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahadawi of Columbia University, and Rumesa Ozturk, who attends Tufts University in Massachusetts.

But as the case continues in immigration court, the pro-Palestinian student activists have successfully applied for their release, even though the court has said they may be re-detained.

Cordia, however, did not have the same success.

Cordia came to the United States in 2016 from the occupied West Bank town of Ramallah. Initially, she arrived on a visitor visa, which was later converted to a student visa.

Eventually, she applied for permanent residency through her mother, a U.S. citizen who lives in New Jersey.

But her legal team said a trusted mentor mistakenly told her that the initial approval of her application meant she had legal status. She then allowed her student visa to lapse.

Immigration officials, in turn, maintain Cordia was detained for overstaying her student visa, not because she supported Palestine.

However, in the initial press release announcing Cordia’s arrest in March 2025, DHS said she and another protester, who was allegedly “self-deported,” were targeted by their propaganda campaign.

“It is an honor to be awarded a visa to live and study in the United States of America,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a news release.

“When you advocate violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country.”

“Deliberate dehumanization”

In a statement on Monday, Mazzola accused immigration officials of “blatant disregard” for Cordia’s human rights while in detention and noted that her health had deteriorated.

Kordia is being held at Prairieland Detention Facility, about 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) from her family in New Jersey.

Laila El-Haddad, a writer and advocate, said she visited Kodia in December and found her “very thin and very emaciated” as she complained about unsanitary conditions and a lack of nutritious food in the crowded facility.

“She said it was a place that was intentionally dehumanizing; designed to strip her and others of their dignity and humanity,” she told Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, Cordia’s lawyers and family said she frequently suffered from dizziness, fainting and other symptoms of malnutrition.

Still, Haddad found Cordia to be optimistic, calling the 33-year-old a pillar of strength for other detainees.

“She was very humble. She kept talking about ‘I’m not a leader or an activist,'” El-Haddad recalled.

El-Hader added that Cordia’s case has not received as much attention as other student protesters, but her story is just as powerful.

“She’s not a public-facing activist or speaker like some of the other (targeted protesters),” El-Hader explained.

“But she found herself in a situation and felt the need (to protest) because of her own humanity, because she is a person with a deep moral compass and sense of action and speech.”

Abushaban said he felt Kodia’s absence at family events very strongly. It’s been a year of missed birthdays, holidays and other gatherings.

He called on U.S. officials, regardless of political affiliation, to sympathize with her plight.

“I was born and raised here, my family was born and raised here,” he said. “Just because we are Palestinians, we still have to feel suppressed in this country.”