Detained: A Homecoming

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From PRX's Radio Topia, this is Radio Diaries. I'm Joe Richmond. Last week, Lakaw Cordilla, a young Palestinian woman from Patterson, New Jersey, walked out of an ICE detention center in Texas. Greeted by a small group of friends. I'm shaking you guys. Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. I can't believe that I'm out. I'm just breathing the air right now. I'm coming home. Cordilla had been held for over a year.

At Radio Diaries we've been following her story. She hasn't given any interviews since she got out, but she recorded an audio diary about her release from ICE detention. We'll have that later in the show. But first, the story of how she got there in the first place. Immigration officials taking Lika Cordilla into custody Friday after she participated in protests at Columbia University. This comes days after in 2024, Cordilla was arrested while protesting outside Columbia University.

Protesters were calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 175 of Cordilla's family members had been killed since the conflict began. Correa was let go after the protests, but the arrest put her on the government's radar, and they showed up months later, took her into custody, and put her on a plane to a detention facility outside of Dallas. She was charged with overstaying her student visa. Her mother is a U.S. citizen, and Cordillo was in the process of applying for a green card.

While in detention, a judge twice ordered her release. Both times the government appealed the ruling.

A few months ago we contacted her cousin, Hamza Abu Shaban, who talked to Cordilla almost every day. He recorded one of their phone calls. Hello? Hey Lulu. Hey. What's going on? How are you? Um surviving. You're surviving but you're not you're not thriving. No, I'm just surviving for now. Give me one second, Hamza. You got it. Norse, she's in visitation. The first week that she was in detention. I was in Dallas for work and I extended my trip to pay her a visit.

I packed like extra shirts for her, deodorant, soap and things like that. And the guards are saying you can't come in here with anything. It's just like you've seen in the movies. You can only talk to them through that phone and there's a really thick glass in between. She's there with this dark blue jumpsuit, dark baggy eyes. That's when it kinda hit me like, Whoa, this is like a lot more serious than what I thought it was gonna be.

When she picked up the phone, the very first thing she said was, Hamza, why am I here? So Lulu, do you remember like who was the first person that told you people were looking for you? Like how did all of that happen? So I received a call from my mother um telling me um there are people asking for you from the government. It was confused, like w why? What do they want from me?

At the beginning I felt like they're missing a a form, a paper or something. But like okay, I'm just gonna solve this issue and then like I'll have my green card soon. But they took my uh my fingerprints and all that. They said, You're going to Texas. I said, Texas? Like that's really far away. And when I arrived to Texas, uh the place was overcrowded. Uh how many people are th are there with you? So right now we're eighty seven. Um and the capacity of this place is thirty seven.

A lot of people sleeping on the floor. A lot of both. What's that? Uh a boat. I know this is a funny word. Um there's something um here it it really looks like a boat and it's plastic. And the girls sleep in it on the floor. Well yeah. Maybe another word to describe this uh place, a big bathroom. We have everything in the place that we sleep in, we eat and it's open. Everything is open. There is no privacy. Zero privacy, okay.

I'm trying to distract myself by maybe writing, reading, talking to you. I consider it a best time when I talk to you or the family. I like that answer.

when all this first started, you know, she kinda chose me to be the family lawyer. So now, you know, I do talk to her almost every single day. She shares stories about life and detention. And in that moment, I have to figure out a way to make her laugh. It's it's frustrating because no one would have ever thought that she would be in there seven months and counting.

I had the first court. The charges were only about immigration. So if it's only about immigration, I'm fine. I'm gonna be out very soon. the judge ruled that I should be released and I s appealed the same day, saying that I'm dangerous. I went for a protest and all that. I was shocked. The second time the judge ruled immediate release again and again Ice appealed the same day.

It just like like a slap on the face.'Cause I came to America looking for freedom and freedom of speech, freedom of everything, you know what I mean? to be held here in this place. Uh for saying free Palestine, ceasefire now. That was like uh uh kind of a shock to me because that's not the America that I heard of. The government had to come up with a reason to keep her in there. their claim was she was sending money to terrorists or a terrorist organization.

The reality was she was sending money to her actual these family members and because it's in Palestine, I had to get these declarations from all these family members saying that they're not terrorists. This declaration, for example, is from her brother and it simply states like sometimes I've asked her for money to, you know, cover expenses such as rent, electricity, gas, water You know, her niece was in the hospital, so he needed money to cover medical bills. This is for like essential needs.

Sometimes I don't know whether to like laugh or or be angry because like I know my family and I also I also know the cot and um she's the furthest thing from a threat. Hopefully with your court date coming up here shortly, things will change. Do you know what's gonna happen that day? I'm I'm terrified of losing the asylum and I'm fighting for my life here. I'm not just fighting for oh, I just wanna stay in America. Yeah, I mean I can only imagine.

I would have done so many things, Hamza. It's seven months. It's seven months. It's a horrible feeling to be here trapped in this place. I it feels like it's wasted time here. Like What is the number one thing you're looking forward to when when you do get released? Okay, it's gonna be funny for you, but for me it's gonna be important. Take a shower. I wanna take a shower in private. I wanna be in control of the temperature of the world.

Amen to that. Oh um sorry there is only less than one minute. Sorry. I know the time limit always keeps kicking us out. So I'll call you I'll call you later, inshallah. All right, I'll talk to you. I'll talk to you bye bye. Take care, bye bye. That's Lakah Cordilla and her cousin Hamza Ubushaban.

Several months ago, Cordilla's health began to deteriorate. She experienced her first ever seizure, and her case was gaining more public attention. Then on march thirteenth, at her third bond hearing, the judge again ordered her release on a hundred thousand dollar bond. This time the government didn't appeal. La Ca Cordillo was finally free to go home. She recorded an audio diary about her release.

It was around two, two thirty when the guard called my name. She's like, Cordilla. And I was like, What? What do you want? And she goes, This word is actually scary in the detention'cause back yourself means either you're gonna be deported or if you're gonna be transferred to another detention. In my case, pack your stuff meant you're gonna be free. So I ran to the phone and usually to make a phone call you need to stay in line and

But everybody was making way for me and everybody like sh don't make any noise. And before even leaving the dorm, like the girls were clapping for me. I was crying happy tears. We were hugging each other. I can tell that they're hopeful again. But at the same time like I'm never gonna feel free until they're all free, inshaAllah. It's very mixed feeling to be in the lobby of the detention I saw that ICE had detained two new ladies and they were sitting there very scared.

So I tried to comfort them as much as I could, but they didn't speak English, so I couldn't really like comfort them as I wanted. The door finally opened and I breathed the air of freedom for the first time after one hard, tough year. I saw the sky with nothing between me and the sky. No handcuffs. with no fences, with no guns, it was I don't know, it was a moment that I would never forget. I came here to my friend's house.

I took the longest shower that I've ever taken in my whole life. I used old kind of shamboos that my friend have and I looked at a real mirror. I cried a little bit. I keep reminding myself like, yes, it's real. You're free. Yes, you're free. Anyway, tomorrow's gonna be a long day. Early in the morning, I'm gonna head back to New Jersey, inshallah. I'm excited to be back home. So good night. Alright, this is it. Alright, this is it. Oh my god.

Lakah Cordilla flew back to New Jersey this past Saturday and was greeted outside her home by family, friends, and a traditional Palestinian band. Cordia's green card petition is still pending, and she remains at risk of deportation. Palestinians are considered stateless, so if deported, she would be sent to Israel.

This story was produced by Nellie Gillis of Radio Diaries, edited by Joe Richmond, Deborah George, and Ben Shapiro. Our team also includes Elisa Scarce. We're proud members of Radiotopia from PRX, a collection of the best independent podcasts around. Can find them all at radiotopia.fm. We have support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, NISCA, the Horace Goldsmith Foundation, and from listeners like you. You can support our work by going to radiodiaries.org/slash.

I'm Joe Richmond. Thanks for listening.