She was eventually reunited with her mother in 2016 when she entered the United States on a visitor visa. In Ramallah she studied fashion design; In the USA, she entered English-language programs on an F-1 student visa. Her mother, a US citizen, filed a family petition to begin the permanent residency process, which was approved in 2021. While waiting for her green card, Cordia left school, voluntarily giving up her student status. According to court documents, the teacher led her to believe (which turned out to be false) that she was already a legal permanent resident. In subsequent years, she cared for her mother, worked as a waitress, and helped look after her autistic half-brother. Paterson, which has a large Palestinian and Arab community, has begun to feel like home.
Since Israel began the war in the Gaza Strip following Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, Cordia has lost more than one hundred and seventy-five relatives in the Gaza Strip. “My thoughts were only about Gaza and nothing else,” she said. The stories she heard from family members were horrifying. They were constantly moved from one city to another, fleeing for their lives only to face more immediate dangers. Cordia, feeling “heartbroken,” did not know what to do. “Feeling helpless is one of the worst feelings in the world,” she said, adding that one of her aunts already lost her home during Israeli bombings in 2021. “There is no safe place in Gaza.”
As Cordia watched her loved ones starve or be killed indiscriminately, protest became her only lifeline. She was used to traveling to New York, a forty-five-minute train ride from Paterson, visiting museums and walking the city streets. On April 30, 2024, as Columbia University students camped in solidarity with Palestinians, drawing international attention, she joined a demonstration at the university gates calling for an end to the violence. Police ordered the crowd to disperse. “The kind of thing you only see in movies,” she said of the display of force. Cordia, feeling dizzy, sat down on the sidewalk and was taken into custody; she was handcuffed and taken by bus to police headquarters, where she was forced to remove her hijab to be searched. She was released the next morning with a summons to appear in court. The charges were later dropped. She assumed that was the end of it.
When Cordia was arrested in March, the government charged her with terrorism. In a public statement released shortly after her arrest, the Department of Homeland Security incorrectly identified her as a Columbia University student. “It is a privilege to receive a visa to live and study in the United States,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. “When you advocate violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country.” According to report The NYPD has turned over evidence of her arrest at student demonstrations, according to the Associated Press. ICE.
The government claims that the money Kordia sent to her family in Gaza (just a few thousand US dollars) is evidence of material support for Hamas. The money came from her job as a waitress and from donations from neighbors, according to court documents. In late June, a federal judge concluded that Cordia's detention likely violated her constitutional right to due process and recommended her release. No convincing evidence of her involvement in terrorist activities was presented. The government responded by saying she was a flight risk. Her petition is now pending in federal court along with separate asylum proceedings. “It breaks my heart to be called something that I have nothing to do with,” she said.
In early October, the Trump administration helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that included an exchange of hostages and prisoners. “Together we have achieved what everyone thought was impossible,” President Trump said. “We finally have peace in the Middle East.” Cordia, meanwhile, is the latest campus protester still in custody following the Trump administration's crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters in the US. At the Prairieland Detention Facility in Texas, she fights for her release while living in constant fear of deportation. She has a Palestinian Authority passport, a travel document that offers no protection if she is deported to Israel. Such a deportation, her legal team argues, would place her in the custody of the same army that killed dozens of her family members. Both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority prosecute those accused of links to Hamas. Photos of Cordia were widely circulated on the Internet. Her lawyers say the seriousness of the charges against her forced her to seek asylum. “I’m not just scared, I’m terrified,” Cordia said. “I'm afraid of going to prison and even being tortured. It could go so far as to kill me.”
At the facility, Cordia spends her days reading, praying, journaling, and responding to letters of support. She also finds comfort and strength in the friendships she forms with other prisoners. “These are beautiful women with dreams. They are educated. They are smart. They are funny,” she said. “These beautiful women made it bearable.” She formed a particularly strong bond with Ward Sakeik, a Palestinian woman whose family is originally from Gaza. Sakeik was arrested To ICE in February when she was returning from her honeymoon in St. Thomas. She was released in July.
According to court documents filed in August, Cordia lost significant weight while in custody. The document notes that Kordia, a practicing Muslim, “ate only one halal meal on a religious holiday, although the detention center accommodates the religious dietary needs of other inmates.” Cordia said the Quran helps her stay strong, especially the verses that remind her that difficulties can be divine challenges. On one of them it is written: “God does not burden the soul beyond what it can bear.” Kordia added: “Allah chose me for this and I should be honored and proud.” ♦
