A Year in ICE Detention

This episode of The Brian Lehrer Show features Laka Kordia, a Palestinian woman who spent over a year in ICE detention after participating in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. Originally from East Jerusalem and a legal resident of the U.S. for over a decade, Laka was detained without a criminal record while awaiting a green card through her U.S. citizen mother. Despite two prior court rulings in her favor for bond release, the Trump administration used procedural delays to keep her incarcerated in a remote detention center in Prairieville, Texas—far from her family and legal support. Her attorney, Sarah Sherman Stokes, reveals that Laka was targeted due to her political activism and Palestinian identity, part of a broader pattern of ideological deportation targeting pro-Palestinian voices. Laka describes horrific conditions in the facility, including overcrowding, denial of religious rights, inadequate food and medical care, and psychological abuse—comparing the experience to life under Israeli military occupation. She draws parallels between ICE detention and Palestinian imprisonment, emphasizing the dehumanization and systemic cruelty in both systems. The episode underscores the constitutional and humanitarian violations in the U.S. immigration system, particularly the use of detention as a tool of political repression, and calls for an end to ICE detention altogether. Sarah stresses that Laka’s First Amendment rights are being suppressed, and the government’s claims of foreign policy risk are baseless and politically motivated.