So, like, apparently, the NYPD gave some info about this Palestinian woman they arrested to ICE, and now the Trump administration is using it to try and deport her. The NYPD shared a report in March that had details about Leqaa Kordia, a lady from New Jersey who got arrested at a protest near Columbia University. They spilled the beans on stuff like her address, date of birth, and a short blurb about her arrest. This whole situation sheds light on how the NYPD and the Trump administration are buddy-buddy behind the scenes, which makes you wonder if NYC is really following those sanctuary laws that are supposed to keep cops from helping with immigration stuff.
Kordia, who is 32 years old, got nabbed pretty early on in Trump’s crackdown on noncitizens who were part of pro-Palestinian protests. She got taken in during a check-in with immigration peeps in Newark on March 13, then shipped off to a detention center in Texas. DHS announced her arrest the next day, talking about her expired visa and her involvement in pro-Hamas protests.
It’s a bit sketchy how immigration found out about Kordia being at the protest near Columbia last year. At the time, she got slapped with a disorderly conduct charge by the police, but that got tossed out a few weeks later and sealed up.
The NYPD usually can’t spill the beans about arrests to immigration folks, but there are exceptions for criminal investigations. So, on March 14, some NYPD officer made a four-page report on Kordia and shared it with Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of ICE. NYPD said they gave the info because of a criminal investigation request from a federal agency. They made sure to mention they don’t take part in any programs related to visa stuff or other immigration matters.
Legal peeps and civil rights folks are side-eyeing this whole situation, saying it’s not cool for the city to be sharing this kind of info with the feds. The sanctuary laws are supposed to stop this kind of thing from happening, but it looks like there might be some sneaky business going on.
Kordia came from Jerusalem and the West Bank and moved to New Jersey in 2016. She let her student visa expire because she thought her residency application was enough to keep her in the country legally. Her lawyers say she wasn’t a big activist, didn’t bash Israel online or in the papers, and wasn’t on any lists from pro-Israel groups. She wasn’t even a Columbia student, despite what the Trump administration claimed, and wasn’t in college when she joined the protest. Her lawyers say she was just peacefully speaking out against Israel’s actions in Gaza because it had affected a lot of her family members.
As for the mayor, Eric Adams, he’s not so big on those sanctuary protections but says the city is following the rules. When asked about the NYPD sharing info about a protester, he said it never happened. His office didn’t respond to questions about it on Friday.
So, there you have it. A whole mess of drama involving a Palestinian woman, the NYPD, ICE, and the Trump administration. Not really sure why this matters, but it’s definitely raising some eyebrows.
