Lakha Kordia describes breathing free air for the first time after a year in ICE detention — in her own words.
Radio Diaries host Joe Richman introduces the episode by noting that Lakha Kordia, a young Palestinian woman from Paterson, New Jersey, had just been released from an ICE detention center in Texas after more than a year in custody. Kordia was arrested in 2024 while participating in pro-Palestinian protests outside Columbia University, where demonstrators were calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. More than 175 of Kordia's family members had been killed in the conflict. Although she was released after the protest arrest, the incident put her on the government's radar. Months later, immigration officials took her into custody and flew her to a detention facility outside Dallas, charging her with overstaying her student visa. Her mother is a U.S. citizen and Kordia was in the process of applying for a green card. The episode features recorded phone calls between Kordia and her cousin Hamza Abushaban, who spoke with her almost daily. Hamza describes visiting her in the first week of detention, finding her in a dark blue jumpsuit behind thick glass, asking him why she was there. Kordia describes the facility as severely overcrowded — 87 people in a space built for 37 — with detainees sleeping on the floor and in plastic containers she compared to boats. She describes having zero privacy and trying to cope by writing, reading, and talking to family. A judge twice ordered her released on bond; ICE appealed both rulings the same day, arguing she posed a danger because of her protest participation. The government also alleged she had sent money to a terrorist organization; in reality, the funds went to family members in Palestine for rent, electricity, and medical bills. Hamza had to obtain declarations from family members attesting they were not terrorists. Kordia describes the repeated appeals as feeling like a slap in the face, given that she came to America believing in freedom of speech. Several months into her detention, Kordia experienced her first-ever seizure, and her case attracted growing public attention. At a third bond hearing, a judge ordered her release on a $100,000 bond, and this time the government did not appeal. Kordia recorded an audio diary on the day of her release, describing a guard calling her name at around 2 a.m. and telling her to pack her things. She explains that in detention, those words usually mean deportation or transfer, and recounts the moment she realized she was going free. Other detainees clapped and made way for her to use the phone. Before leaving, she tried to comfort two newly detained women who did not speak English. She describes stepping outside and seeing the sky with no handcuffs, fences, or guns between her and it. She went to a friend's house, took what she called the longest shower of her life, and cried while looking in a real mirror. The episode ends with audio of Kordia being greeted by friends outside the detention center, saying she cannot believe she is out and is just breathing the air.
