ICE is Keeping Leqaa Kordia's Family in the Dark | Palestine Policy Roundup 02.09.26
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Sen. Chris Van Hollen: “Where the hell is the "Board of Peace?” Over 500 Palestinians have been killed since the “ceasefire.” This comes days after the IDF itself admitted the Palestinian death toll is over 70,000. The use of American taxpayer-funded weapons makes us complicit. Stop the slaughter.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “Trump is pushing through nearly $7 billion in weaponry to Israel. The United States should not continue spending taxpayer dollars to arm Netanyahu's genocidal government. We need health care for all Americans, not weapons for a war criminal.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez: “There is no ceasefire in Gaza. US-supplied bombs are still being used to murder Palestinians. Congress must assert its authority and put an end to the genocide. We must pass my Block The Bombs Act, which would stop the use of MK-series bombs, and end our complicity in these horrors. Not one more bomb, not one more dollar, not one more excuse.”
Rep. André Carson: "The Trump administration’s attacks on free speech and journalism are disturbing threats to our country. Congress has a duty to protect Americans reporting at home and abroad, preserving the free speech our country was founded on – and Shireen's family deserves answers, justice, and accountability. We must also ensure that U.S. weapons, equipment, or military services were not used to kill Americans on foreign soil. Taxpayers should not be paying for violations of human rights.”
DC DEVELOPMENTS
⚖️ REPRESENTATIVES DEMAND JUSTICE FOR SHIREEN ABU AKLEH
On the Friday before last, Rep. André Carson and 13 original cosponsors introduced H.R. 7281, the Justice for Shireen Act, which calls on the FBI and the State Department to release their reports on the killing of US citizen and acclaimed Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. It would also require that the reports include information on US-provided weapons and funding involved in the killing of Shireen.
ACCOUNTABILITY: This is a crucial step in holding Israel accountable for the killing of a US citizen. Since Shireen was killed, the Israeli military or settlers in the West Bank have killed seven US citizens: Ayşenur Eygi, Sayfollah Musallet, Amer Rabee, Jacob Flickinger, Mohammad Khdour, Tawfiq Ajaq, and Khamis Ayyad.
Neither the Biden nor the Trump administrations have held Israel accountable for any of these killings.
💡 POLICY ASK: IMEU Policy Project strongly encourages Representatives to cosponsor the Justice for Shireen Act to send a strong message of support for holding Israel accountable for the killing of Shireen and other US citizens.
A VOICE SILENCED: On May 11, 2022, an Israeli soldier deliberately targeted and killed Shireen as she was reporting on an Israeli invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
Several investigations found that the Israeli soldier who killed Shireen could clearly see the press vests that she and her crew were wearing that day. A CNN investigation found that Shireen was killed in a targeted attack by the soldier.
The investigation also found that there was no fighting in the area from which Shireen was reporting, directly contradicting Israel’s narrative about the killing.
The investigation also found that Israeli soldiers shot at Shireen’s crew and bystanders as they tried to help her.
BIDEN STONEWALLED: While the FBI reportedly launched an investigation into Shireen’s killing, the Department of Justice has still refused to publish a report on its findings.
The State Department also circulated a report that accepted Israel’s false narrative of the incident.
Colonel Steve Gabavics, who was a former official with the office that reviewed Shireen’s killing, accused the Biden administration of softening its assessment of Israel’s killing of Shireen in an interview late last year.
DEADLY PATTERN: Shireen is far from the first or last Palestinian journalist who Israel has killed. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Israel has killed more than 200 journalists during its genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza.
This points to a systemic and deliberate pattern of targeting journalists, which would compel the immediate halt of weapons to Israel under the Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act. Identifying whether a US-provided weapon was used to kill Shireen would be a crucial step toward enforcing the law.
IN THE NEWS
🚨 LEQAA KORDIA HOSPITALIZED, ICE KEEPS FAMILY IN DARK
Leqaa Kordia, the last protester outside of Columbia University held by ICE, was taken to the hospital on Friday after suffering a medical episode while in ICE detention – but worryingly, as of Sunday evening, her family and lawyers have not been able to access Leqaa directly.
ACCESS DENIED: This development comes just over a week after Leqaa’s cousin, Hamzah Abushaban and Texas state lawmaker Salman Bohjani were denied entry to visit her despite being approved to do so.
Abushaban and Texas state lawmakers held a press conference outside of the Prairieland Detention Facility, where Leqaa has been held for nearly a year after her abduction by ICE.
🏛️ WHAT CONGRESS CAN DO: Members of Congress should demand that ICE immediately inform Leqaa’s family and her lawyers about her whereabouts and condition. They should also demand that Leqaa’s family and lawyers be allowed access to her. Additionally, they should call for her release from ICE detention.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: Hamzah Abushaban made the connection between her medical emergency and the conditions of her detention: “She was lifeless. That was the most alarming part… She told me that she literally feels like she’s slowly dying. And then four or five days later, this happens…It’s because of the ongoing malnutrition, lack of sleep, lack of proper hygiene, waking up at the crack of dawn every day. It’s the lack of normal, basic human rights that led to what happened yesterday.”
INHUMANE CONDITIONS: Both Abushaban and Texas state lawmakers reported that Leqaa is being held in inhumane conditions and that her First Amendment right to practice her religion is being violated.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Abushaban described Leqaa as pale and being too weak to even hold up a phone used to speak with visitors.
A letter sent by Texas state lawmakers in the days before Abushaban and Bohjani were denied entry detailed how Leqaa has been denied halal food while in detention and that she struggles to find a quiet and clean place to pray.
Leqaa herself also described her conditions of confinement as “filthy, overcrowded and inhumane” in an op-ed recently published by USA Today. She also described the food provided by the facility as inedible and how she has lost a significant amount of weight.
WHO IS LEQAA?: Leqaa Kordia is the last protester outside of Columbia University to remain in ICE detention. After being arrested as she protested in support of Columbia University’s encampment for Palestinian rights, ICE targeted her in retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and peaceable assembly. Notably, nearly 200 of Leqaa’s family members have been killed by Israel during its genocide in Gaza.
ZOOMING OUT: Inhumane conditions of her detention have undoubtedly contributed to Leqaa’s medical condition. They also reflect the experiences of the tens of thousands of immigrants that ICE has detained as part of President Trump’s racist campaign of mass deportations.
A 2025 Senate report found dozens of cases of medical neglect that were life threatening in some cases.
That report also revealed that in many cases detainees are given meals that are too small for adults; expired milk; and water that smelled foul and made children sick.
These conditions also closely reflect those faced by Palestinians in Gaza, who Leqaa was supporting when she was arrested at Columbia University. Israel is still starving Palestinians by obstructing the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the aid that is allowed in is nutritionally inadequate.
📣 TAKE ACTION: Write to your members of Congress and ask that they call for Leqaa’s family and lawyers to be informed about her condition, and for her release from ICE detention.
⚠️ TRUMP’S BOARD BRINGS HIS VISION TO SUDAN
Last Tuesday, President Trump’s Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos announced that the Trump administration would present a plan to end Sudan’s civil war to the president’s personal shadow UN, also known as the so-called “Board of Peace”. This is a clear manifestation of the warnings about President Trump’s board being used to undermine the UN.
THE GAZA THREAT: If this process is anything like the board’s ongoing attempted takeover of Gaza, it will feature the same deals meant to enrich Trump and his powerful donors and allies.
Palestinians and advocates have warned about this threat since Trump announced a global mandate for the board on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. See the January 20, 2026 edition of the Palestine Policy roundup for more details.
UN INVOLVEMENT: While Boulos announced that the UN Security Council (UNSC) will have a hand in approving the plan, it’s not clear what form that will take. But President Trump has a record of using the UNSC to sideline self-determination.
Recall that the UNSC endorsed the Trump takeover plan for Gaza only after President Trump and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz threatened the lives of Palestinians.
Trump’s board then greatly expanded its role and power over the lives of Palestinians following the UNSC resolution. They could also run this same playbook on Sudan.
UAE INVOLVEMENT: The potential threat posed by the board’s involvement is further exacerbated by the UAE’s role in the board and in Sudan’s civil war. This will essentially give the UAE, which supported a side in the war, an opportunity to impose its interests in post-war Sudan.
The UAE, along with several other countries accused of human rights abuses, was one of the first countries to join Trump’s board.
The UAE has supplied weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in direct contradiction to assurances it made to the US. The RSF is the militia that overthrew Sudan’s transitional government in 2021 and is a party to the brutal civil war. The RSF also reportedly carried out a massacre in the city of El Fasher that killed more than 60,000 people.
PALESTINE/ISRAEL DEVELOPMENTS
🚧 ISRAEL’S CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS: ISRAEL STRIKES PALESTINIANS, RESTRICTS RAFAH CROSSING
Israel’s latest violations of the ceasefire agreed to in phase one of Trump’s takeover plan include restricting the number of Palestinians allowed to cross into and out of Gaza via the Rafah gate, which Israel has controlled since May 2024. Also, Israel killed dozens more Palestinians in continued attacks.
RENEGING ON RAFAH COMMITMENTS: While the Rafah border crossing opened last week, Israel refused to meet even its inadequate quota. Once again, Israel violated the ceasefire with no accountability from the Trump administration.
Only 52 Palestinians were allowed to return to Gaza during the first two days of what Israel has labeled a “pilot program,” which suggests the possibility that Israel may move to close the crossing again or continue to severely limit its access.
Additionally, during the first four days of the crossing’s operation, only 36 Palestinians who required medical care and their companions–up to 108 Palestinians total–were allowed to cross into Egypt. For reference, Israel committed to allowing 50 Palestinians and their companions to leave Gaza for medical evacuations per day.
Israeli officials reportedly are now restricting the number of Palestinians who can enter Gaza to the same number of Palestinian patients who are medically evacuated from Gaza and their companions. This results in fewer Palestinians returning to Gaza than who are leaving, raising concerns that this arrangement will facilitate Israel’s overall goal to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza.
PALESTINIAN WOMEN INTERROGATED: 12 Palestinian women who were allowed through the Rafah crossing reported that they were interrogated and humiliated by the Israeli military.
At least three women reported being blindfolded and handcuffed as they were interrogated by Israeli authorities. Rotana al-Regeb reported to the Associated Press that she found her 50-year-old mother blindfolded, kneeling, and with her hands handcuffed behind her back before she was put into the same position by Israeli soldiers.
Israeli soldiers also reportedly threatened to detain Rotana and keep her from returning to her children unless she became an informant for the Israeli military.
These harsh conditions that Palestinians face when returning to Gaza, in addition to the fact that they are not allowed to carry water through the crossing and are reportedly having luggage stolen by screening teams, should raise concerns that Israel is trying to restrict the entry of Palestinians even further by using these practices as a deterrent.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: A Palestinian woman recounted her experience under Israeli screening to Al Jazeera: “They took everything from us. Food, drinks, everything. Allowing us to keep only one bag. The Israeli army called my mother first and took her. Then they called me, and took me,” the woman said. They blindfolded me and covered my eyes. They interrogated me in the first tent, asking why I wanted to enter Gaza. I told them I wanted to see my children and return to my country. They tried to pressure me psychologically, wanted to separate me from my children and force me into exile.”
MORE STRIKES: Last Thursday, Israel killed nearly two dozen Palestinians in strikes across Gaza.
14 Palestinians were killed by Israeli shelling of neighborhoods in Gaza City, while another six were killed in attacks on people sheltering in displacement camps.
Israel has killed more than 500 Palestinians, including more than 100 children, since the so-called ceasefire began in October.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: Abu Mohammed Haboush, whose son was killed by these Israeli attacks, exposed the sham nature of the ceasefire in an interview published by Drop Site News: “We appeal to the entire world to stand with us. They said there was a truce, a ceasefire—this is not a ceasefire. This is extermination, genocide. This is not a truce, this is genocide against us. Stand by us, help us, stop the war, and end the humiliation we are living in—the disgrace and humiliation we endure is shameful. Every other day, our children are martyred. Every other day, our children die.”
Photo: Peter Serocki, via Shutterstock. Stock Photo ID: 2683833861