Former ICE detainee says detention center conditions are like a ‘dungeon’

[0:00] A few weeks ago, we reported on the case of Lakha Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian woman [0:05] who spent an entire year in ICE detention. She was finally freed in mid-March after a judge [0:11] ordered her release. Lakha was detained last year during a meeting with ICE officers and [0:16] immediately sent to Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas. Her arrest was linked in part to [0:22] her participation in pro-Palestinian protests outside of Columbia University in 2024. [0:27] An immigration judge had ordered her release three times, but the Trump administration [0:33] challenged the first two rulings. She was finally released on bond and is now using her voice to [0:38] reveal the dire conditions, she says, detainees have to endure inside this detention center. [0:45] Lakha is joining us in studio tonight. Thank you so much for being here, especially [0:50] having just been released just a few weeks ago. Really appreciate you coming in. [0:54] Thank you for having me. [0:56] Absolutely. [0:57] How are you? [0:57] How are you doing? How is your family doing? [1:00] That's a rough question. I don't know how to answer it. I mean, I'm blessed. I'm grateful, [1:06] of course. But this is only the first step. I'm still fighting my case. I'm still fighting for [1:13] my freedom. I'm still subjected to be deported to Israel. So I was only released on a bond. [1:21] That's all. My family, they're grateful that I'm among them again. [1:28] Like, I'm not in jail. But also, I have the bigger side of the family. They're still in Gaza, [1:35] trapped in Gaza. I lost 200 family members to the genocide, the ongoing genocide in Gaza. [1:42] It's unimaginable loss, 200 family members. And then the family that you have that's in Gaza is [1:48] just barely surviving. You spent a year at this detention center. What was that experience like? [1:56] What were the conditions like in there? [1:58] I would use the word jail, dungeon. It's literally a jail system. Detention center is a very nice word [2:07] to say. The conditions are really bad. The food is horrible. Us detainees, we used to call it [2:16] dog's food. And some of the detainees, they were like, I don't even give this food to my dogs. [2:22] We weren't allowed fruits or vegetables. The water wasn't clean. [2:28] Often, we would be directed to drink from a sink that is connected to a toilet seat. [2:36] Sometimes, the water would have things swimming in it. We would sleep on a paper-thin mattress, [2:43] very overcrowded. I slept on the floor for three months straight. [2:50] Cockroaches, all these bugs will be walking on me. We would have pregnant ladies with us. [2:59] Also experiencing the same conditions. Sometimes, like, they will be in real pain and nobody will come to see them. [3:08] There are children, literally children, kids. [3:11] It seems like such a difficult way to live. I'm sure you heard many horrifying stories while you were there. [3:18] Can you walk us through just a regular day there? Walk us through just the... when you would wake up in the morning, for instance, what were some of the things that everyone was... [3:28] Mm-hmm. [3:28] everyone was supposed to do we barely sleep that's one because of the noise of the walkie-talkie for [3:37] the guards and the movements that transferring people um and this movement will happen during [3:45] the night most of the time um so you barely sleep you would be awakened on like chow the word chow [3:53] they use the word chow for food for like um to call for food they would scream yell at us and [4:01] you have only like two minutes to wake up and go to the dining early area if you didn't [4:10] wake up and go then no food for you and i would imagine that the medical the medical care was [4:15] poor you mentioned there were some pregnant women that were there and needed care we understand that [4:20] you also had a medical episode while you were there in detention [4:24] a seizure but let's go back to the day of your detention the government accused you of [4:29] overstaying your visa and is questioning payments you sent to your family in the middle east they [4:34] are also accusing you of partaking in what they call pro-hamas protests what is your response to [4:40] that well the government actually like they dropped all these charges and because there [4:47] was no evidence of what they accused me of um basically all this was turned out to be [4:54] just propaganda and false they had no evidence to provide um i was simply i'm a palestinian lady [5:03] who as i mentioned before i lost 200 family members uh to the genocide i took to the streets to [5:10] to call for a free palestine to call for the ceasefire uh left the season stop killing people [5:17] basically um i'm calling i was calling for my the dignity for myself my family and my uh my family [5:24] uh people um that's simply what i did it's just practicing my freedom of speech we know you have [5:31] a pending green card application we wish you the best with that and thank you so much for coming in [5:35] here and speaking with us and sharing with us your experience thank you thank you i appreciate you [5:40] when asked about lakha's case in a statement a dhs spokesperson said the facts of this case have not [5:47] changed on march 13th 2025 hsi arrested cordia from the west bank palestine for immigration [5:53] violations related to overstaying her expired visa and her visa to the california police department [5:56] student visa she violated the terms of her student visa previously in april 2024 cordia was arrested [6:03] by local law enforcement for her involvement in pro-hamas protests at columbia university in new [6:09] york city she was provided halal kosher meals throughout her detention at prairieland detention [6:15] center until she voluntarily discontinued them in january 2026. she had access to prayer rooms [6:21] and religious materials throughout her detention these allegations of inhumane [6:26] conditions are false all detainees are provided with proper meals water medical treatment and [6:32] have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers [6:35] in fact ice has higher detention standards than most u.s prisons that hold actual u.s citizens