Good morning. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, but today in Patterson, our hearts are hurting because one of our own, one of our residents is not only in custody, but
she's in chains, treated like an animal, abducted, and for almost a year, she's been treated inhumanely. She recently suffered a seizure
and our concern and our family's concern of course is that she's going to need adjustments to her medication. Active adjustments to her medication. We don't want this young lady to die in
ICE custody. We want this woman to live and live in Patterson and be the student that she was and the daughter that she was as well. So today we're standing in solidarity for Lakia and asking for her to be released
because she does not pose a threat to anybody nor did she inflict any harm on anyone. So this is a humanitarian plea. Let her go. Let her live.
At this time we're joined by her attorney Omar F. Good morning everyone. Thank you for being here. Omar Farah the executive director of Muslim Advocates. We are legal counsel to LA for LA is represented also by our partners at the
CUNI uh clinic at uh sorry the clear clinic at Kuni Law School, the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Boston University immigrants rights clinicia is a 33-year-old Muslim woman, a beloved family member
and community member from right here in Patterson. Nearly one year ago, ICE targeted Laha here in Patterson and disappeared her 1500 miles away from her family and her friends to a detention center in
Prairand, Texas, increasingly notorious for its deplorable conditions. LA is the last of the Columbia University protesters still in immigration confinement for daring to speak out against the
genocide in Gaza that has killed nearly 200 of her own family members. The cause immigration confinement because this administration disagrees with her political positions and has taken extraordinary steps to punish and
retaliate against her. Despite an immigration judge twice ordering her release, Lau remains held in ICE detention in Texas, away from her family, away from her community, while challenging her confinement
and the unconstitutional retaliation for her exercise of her first amendment bedrock constitutional rights. But what brings us here today is that this travesty has taken a turn for the worse.
Last week, Lacos suffered a seizure in the facility under ICE custody and was disappeared to a hospital without access to her legal counsel, without access to her family for nearly 72 hours. Neither
her family, her legal team had any sense of where she was, heard her voice, had any information about her condition. Yesterday, LA released this statement in her own words that I ask you to consider
from LA. The entire time I was chained for three days in the emergency room, my hands and legs weighed down by heavy chains as they drew blood from and gave me medications. It was terrifying. I felt like an animal. My hands are still full of marks
from the heavy metal. They even refused to remove the chains when I went to the bathroom, took a shower. On the third day, I asked the lieutenant, "Why am I chained like this?" Her response was, "Because I said so."
The only difference between the food at Prairie Land and the food at the hospital was a bit of fruit. Otherwise, it was difficult to eat or keep anything down. My experience at the hospital was dehumanizing from start to finish. While I believe the nurses and doctors did
their best, the guards didn't treat me like a human being. They wouldn't let me speak to my family. When one of my attorneys came to see me, they refused to let him in. I worried that if something happened to me, no one would know. The hospital told me I was more prone to seizures because
of poor sleep, inadequate nutrition, and stress. The doctor advised me to reduce my stress and eat food to avoid a future seizure. I don't know how I can do that while I'm confined. At Prairieland, your daily life, whether
you can have access to food or medicine you need or even a good night's sleep, is controlled by the private for-profit business that runs this facility. I've been here for 11 months, and the food is so bad it makes me sick. We live in
filthy conditions. The best medicine for me and everyone is our freedom. ICE detention facilities are built to break people and destroy health and hope. I want everyone to know what happened to me because the same things
are happening to other women who are locked up here. There are women who have terminal cancer cancer, disabled women, pregnant women. They are all suffering and none of us deserves to be here. No one deserves this. The only reason ICE targeted me in the
first place is because I protested against the Israeli government's genocide in Gaza. Even now, US-made bombs continue to destroy Palestinian homes and kill Palestinian families. Whether it's my family in Palestine or with young other women unjustly confined
by ICE alongside me, I will continue to use my voice to speak up for the freedom and dignity of others. That's from Lovia. The cause story cannot be separated from her bravery to exercise her first
amendment right to speech and activism in defense of Palestinian lives and liberation. It's a story of the cruelty of this administration targeting anyone who dares to dissent. Every day that she's in detention for exercising her constitutional rights is a travesty.
The need for her release could not be more urgent than it is right now. Thank you to the mayor's office for his concern. Thank you all for being here. Start off by saying that our hearts are hurting and how can they not after hearing Lass's letter and her plea for
freedom. We've also been joined by our corporation council Aean Abushi. I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that we are in the midst of Black History Month. And to think of one of our civil rights leaders
and one of his most quoted statements is injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Yeah. polio and to be here today talking about someone who is wasting away unnecessarily
in detention because she exercised her freedom of speech, freedom that is granted to all Americans and freedom that should be exercised. And I think it's very telling that Lagant used her opportunity
to speak to not only discuss what she's going through, but discuss what other people are going through. And mayor, that's what we want. That's what we want from our fellow citizens. That's what we want from our fellow pistonians. And
these are the things advocating on behalf of others, advocating against injustice. This is the thing that we should be celebrating and encouraging, not jailing and punishing. And so our call here today is to free
Lab, to give her her due process, and to follow the judge's orders. She's not been convicted of any crimes, and the only charge against her is that she spoke out. And so to the extent that
you need to see more of yourself in LA, think of what would happen to you or where you would be if you were not afforded the right to speak out in our great country if the first amendment did not apply to you or if you were punished
for exercising the freedoms that we're going to be celebrating 250 years of this July. The Constitution means something. It's what makes our country the greatest country in the world. And we need to honor that constitution
whether or not you agree with the speech and call for the release of Loth and all other persons who are being held in violation of their rights. Loth, we hear you. We see you. And you may not hear
from everybody. You may not see everybody. But I can tell you that you, your story, and your plight are in the hearts of many, many, many people. And what you're doing and what you're sacrificing now will hopefully pay
dividends, not only for the people that are unjustly incarcerated with you now, but for the future generations who will be empowered and encouraged and have the strength to exercise their rights when they see wrong. >> Thank you very much.
>> Thank you. Thank and a alluded to a judge. Let it be noted that a judge has called for her release twice. So now the judiciary is being ignored. At this time we've been joined by the
executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations Makud. Today we are here in Patterson, New Jersey. Patterson is home to one of the largest Muslim and Palestinian communities here in our state. It is
also the home of the Gakorda and we are also only days away from the holy month of Ramadan. You see, Leah should not be behind bars. She should be here in this city preparing for the holy
month of Ramadan celebrating with her family and her friends. Everything about the cause case is wrong. Layers of injustice right in our face.
Lack of due process. Disregard for the first amendment. Disregard for the courts. The actions of our government is like that of a rogue state. Let me repeat that. Our government is acting like a
rogue state. It is not immigration enforcement to toss out the opinion of a judge not once but twice. What has happened to due process in our nation?
This is not just about Leah. This is a warning for all of communities across our nation to know that if you speak up and you challenge the status quo, you could end up like. This is a warning to all minority
communities to know that we must fight to defend our first amendment right. It is not a crime to protest. It is not a crime to call out genocide.
But what is a crime is to disregard the decisions and the pleas of a judge. Not once but twice. I am someone I I'm here today because our community, the Muslim community, knows all too well what it feels like to
be treated like suspects. to have our speech be treated like suspects, our identity, our faith, and our grief. The American Muslim community has been in this position for far too long,
constantly treated like criminals, vilified and attacked. And now we are seeing the pain and the suffering of one of our very own, Latia, behind bars. We need to free L today. This is a
battle for the soul of our own nation. We cannot allow this. No matter the opinion she may be expressing, no matter what community she comes from, we all must be treated equally and fairly. This is what America is all about. So, we
must stand up. And it is uh of course this moment is heavy and difficult for the family especially for all of us. But it is it's good to know that there are so many who are standing by her and that the community across uh this state has
been active in calling for her release and we are uh glad to see so many more elected officials speak up. Most recently, Representative Nelly Poe just recently offered a statement uh calling for her as well to be to to her case to
be addressed. And we're calling on the rest of our congressional delegation here in New Jersey to speak up. Use your platform. We thank the mayor today for giving us this stage, for giving Leah the stage, but now we're calling the rest of our congressional representatives to speak up if they have
not yet done so and our senators who we know are working behind uh closed doors to advocate for the Kabu. We need to be more vocal now more than ever. Let's repeat this one fact. has been mentioned already, but let's not forget it is nearly 1 year since Leop has been
arrested. One year since she has been put behind bars unjustly. A young woman who has already lost nearly 200 of her family members abroad should be here in Patterson preparing for the month of Ramadan, going to
school, going to work, living her life. We are calling for one simple thing. We are calling for our government, our federal government to respect the courts, to respect her humanity, to respect her health, and to free Leah
today. Thank you. Thank you. >> We're proud to have with us from the Palestinian American Community Center, the executive director, Rana Mustafa. >> Thank you all for being here today. And thank you to Mayor Andre S for putting together this press conference in honor
of the My name is Rana Mustafa and I am the executive director of the Palestinian American Community Center. And I'm here today along with our colleagues today because one of our own is being systematically targeted by a system that is meant to protect us but
is opposing us. Laha is a Pattersonian. She's a daughter. She's a sister. She's a community member. She's beloved by so many, including the regulars that she used to see when she worked at a local bakery here in Patterson.
And today, February 13th, 2026, LA has spent over a year shackled inside an immigration detention center, hundreds of miles away from anyone who loves her and the community who's yearning to have her back.
Last Friday, her family received an unimaginable terrifying call. I urge each of you to put yourself in their shoes. Lot woke up in the middle of in the middle in the medical unit confused and afraid. She had fallen twice. Her
body began twitching. For the first time ever in her life, which is important to note, she does not have a condition. For the first time ever in her life, she suffered a seizure. She was taken to a hospital. She was not treated as a patient for 72 hours. Her
wrists and legs were shackled to the bed as the medical staff drew blood from her and gave her medication. Like her statement said, the entire time she was chained and she felt like an animal. This experience is not too far off because our Palestinian brothers and
sisters are also experiencing very similar conditions in Israeli prisons. a young woman from Patterson experiencing this kind of experience, this medical in a medical emergency in America. Can we really sit with this and believe
that this is happening in America? And I asked all of you, what was Lukak's crime? In April 2024, she joined a protest at Colombia and she practiced her rights. She stood in solidarity with her people in Gazda exercising her first amendment right, the same right
guaranteed to every American. She received a summon. The case was dismissed. Her record was sealed. And by all legal standards, she thought it was over. But a year later, federal investigators began circling. Trusting the system, Lat went into the ICE office
in Newark to speak with them. But the reality is she never came home. She trusted the system that betrayed her. She was detained for overstaying a visa, a civil violation, and put on a plane to Texas. She has been locked up ever
since. Luka is a Palestinian. She has family in Gazda, and here in Patterson, her family waits in fear for her life. They lost over 200 family members. And they worry that Akat is going to be next on that list where they fear losing her,
too. But not in Palestine, on our very own American soil. A judge has ruled twice to let her go, that she's not a threat, and they've given her a $20,000 bond. Twice the system acknowledge that
she should be free, and twice that has been ignored. Why? Because she refuses to stay silent. Her family tells us that even inside the facility, she's been vocal. She's been standing up for other women. She's been speaking up about the deplorable
conditions that they're enduring. and her family believes with good reason that this may make her has made her a target. She's being punished for speaking up. She's being punished for being Palestinian because what Lak is enduring is not an accident. For years, ICE officers have
trained with Israeli forces, learning tactics of surveillance, interrogation, and controlled honed in the occupied territories and now adapted here in our on our US soil to use against our own people. Laha is living proof of that
deadly exchange. And she's not alone. People have died under ICE custody. He had Porter in California, Sylve Gonzalez in Chicago, 36 people as of last August. More just this last month in Georgia,
Texas, and California. The system is not failing. Right now, it's functioning as it was unfortunately designed. Our government did not just fail. They are the perpetrators. They are the
ones who chained her to a bed. They are the ones who kept her from her family. They are the ones who who have who are using these tactics tested on their own people thousands of miles away. Lat did nothing wrong. She did what any
of us would do. She did what I would do. She would do what any community member would do. She used her courage, stood up for justice, and to and she's paying the price for that. She has been writing to us from her cell, showing a spirit that refuses to break. And now it's our turn
to stand up for the We need her immediate release. We're demanding the release of everyone held and targeted for who they are. Guria is one of those people. She is from our city. She is our community center. She is my sister. and
we will not rest until she's free. And so we call on everybody to continue pressuring your representatives, to continue calling your members of Congress, to continue demanding and to know why is LA not being let free despite the fact that the courts have
ordered her to be free. We ask that everyone continue to amplify her story, continue to share this story, continue saying her names, and we know that in due time, Llat will be free. Thank you very much. >> Thank you.
>> I commend LA for her courage. In fact, when I was reading more about her ordeal, she talked about women who are pregnant and have terminal cancer that are being mistreated as well. So, she is not afraid to speak up and that's why
we're not afraid to speak up for her. We have with us from American Muslims for Palestine, Hapsa Heba. Thank you, mayor, for organizing. Thank you all for being here. My name is Ha. I'm here on behalf of American Muslims for Palestine.
It was the middle of Ramadan last year when I received the call that our sister and community member, Leo, had been detained by ICE and transferred to a detention facility in Texas. 337 days later, after two rulings
ordering her release, months in inhumane and overcrowded conditions and a hospitalization, Liat remains confined in that same facility. She sleeps in what she describes as a large bathroom converted into a cell.
She is held in a space operating hundreds of people over capacity, surrounded by families waiting to be returned with their loved ones. The same detention that is marked by a lack of medical care, abusive conditions, and unaccountable staff. Conditions that are
that have led to the deaths and the murders of this year alone of Lewis Caceres, Geraldo Campos, Victor Diaz, Haradila, Luise Yanz Cruz,
and Hber Dominguez. And still she remains there. one of more than a thousand detainees with deteriorating health that has already required a hospitalization once.
I do not need to describe the extraordinary person that Lika is, nor the absence that our community has felt for nearly a year. Instead, I will again remind you why she is there. Lik was targeted for exercising her first
amendment rights. She attended a protest for Guza outside of Columbia University and for that reason she was detained. Her detention is unjust and retaliatory. It reflects a McCarthy era weaponization
of immigration law to punish political speech to intimidate communities and suppress organizing for Palestinian liberation and more broadly to suppress the exercise of constitutional rights. If
the government can detain someone for nearly a year for just protesting a genocide, then none of our rights are secure. And we are w we are witnessing that erosion in real time. We are seeing a troubling escalation in
New Jersey. Over the past year, ICE has detained shop owners at work in Collingswood, used public buses as dragnet zones in West New York, chased community members in Palisades Park, attempted warrantless arrests in Jersey
City, and reportedly fired at vehicles in Roxberry. This escalation and violence and unconstitutional action by ICE reflects directly reflects the practices and occupation imposed by the
Israeli military on Palestinians and they have both operated with no accountability. We cannot afford complacency while these practices expand and normalize. Exercising free speech is not illegal.
Human beings are not illegal. AJP Action has joined CARE, USCPR, JVP, and AFSC in a call to action to demand on to demand an end to ISIS attacks on our freedoms and to demand Liot's
immediate release. We are calling on Congress to act immediately to secure her freedom. We are urging our community members to contact the representatives and press DHS and secretary known for her release. We ask you to amplify story
from inside detention and follow her page free on Instagram. And as Lat has said and continues to affirm, I will continue to use my voice to speak up for the freedom and dignity of others. And it is time that we use ours. She cannot,
her family cannot, and our our community cannot endure another Ramadan without her home. Her health, safety, and basic welfare are not guaranteed where she where she is being held right now. We
need immediate action and we need to bring her home. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, Abs. We've also been joined by the captain who represents LA and her family, our six board representative, the honorable
Ibrahim Ibi Omar. Good morning everyone. I'd like to thank everyone that joined us as we call for the immediate release of Latia. As a Palestinian elected official, I cannot stay silent while a member of our community remains incarcerated by ICE for nearly a year.
Just last week, she was hospitalized where her whereabouts were unknown and where her family and her attorneys could not reach her. Lad is entitled to due process, dignity, and fair treatment under the law. Yet, unfortunately, this current administration, this current administration, due process does not
exist. A few months ago, this council along with my fifth ward councilman Lewis VeZ, we sponsored a resolution to call for a release like many other elected officials. Not only here in the state of New Jersey, but across our nation. No one should be punished and
held indefinitely without justice. We stand with Lat. We stand with her family and we demand for her release now. And I also want to just add that the same way that the cat has fought for Palestinians in Gaza and in West Bank while incarcerated, she's fighting for the
women that she's incarcerated with. So the same thing that the cat's done is speaking up for others, we need to speak up for her. Thank you. Our last speaker showed a bold and brave spirit. In fact, he
sponsored a resolution here at the city council level in support of that guy. So, we've been joined by our councilman from the fifth ward, Lewis A. Balez, who not only will address in English, but also for the Spanish networks. He will speak in Spanish as well. Thank you,
mayor. If I got to say something, everything have been said I will speak of from the bottom of my heart. If I could give up my position as a politician
and if I could give up my citizenship for NA to be free, I will do that. She deserve to be free. Yeah. Because if I'm free, she deserve to be free.
If they are free, we all deserve to be free. The health, the life is in the hands of DHS. President Trump, you have the glory too
to do this. You can call that release. People come here to look for the America dream and DFS is creating a nightmare to that dream.
To the young lady, we're going to stand solarity with you. We're going to continue raising our voice. We're going to still stand united for the good cause. Hopefully you come back tomorrow home. Please
listen to our plea, our demands, our rights. Fulfill those court orders that says release her. The judge mandated. Let's do that as soon as possible. We
don't want to lose another life in the hands of the SS. either ice. So we are welcome immigrant city. We want to welcome back.
We want to welcome back. So do the right thing. Stand still Larry with us and let's pray for her health that she could stay strong because we are going to continue strong
in our message. She's supposed need to be with us. Una Palestine. tornado. Foreignech. Thank you. My mother was born in Aleppo, Syria, like George's family.
And she'd often say in Arabic, whenever a situation was unfair, she'd say, "Fiola." FILA means that there's a God. And this Wednesday marks a rare moment in our world.
In two major faiths, the intersection occurs where the start of the holy month of Ramadan coincides with the start of Lent, which leads us to Easter. And the similar situation that we face as Muslims and Christians is in those two
holy times, we're reminded of our humanity and we're reminded of our humility as well. and that we both are asking for God's mercy upon us. We're asking for mercy for an innocent woman. We're asking for mercy for an
innocent woman who's suffering with an illness. And so the medication that she needs to live is important, crit critical for her to get, but the real medication she needs is freedom.
So we're saying, let her go. Let her live and to her family feel Allah. Thank you for joining us. We'll open the floor to questions. >> Has the reason be given as to why they
are defying federal judge's orders? >> Lau has been recommended for release on bond on two separate occasions and the reason is the government is fighting tooth thin nail to keep her uh locked up and paralyzed. So there's there's no um there's no other reading of this than a
retaliatory weaponization of the immigration system against someone who dared to exercise their constitutional right to speak out and and to be an activist. There's there's really no other reason here than that. Do >> you have an idea what the endg game is for the government with with her uh as
far as her status overall or eventually? >> As council, our end game is to continue fighting tooth and nail in court to make the the case. Uh right now this is uh within a mistrate judge who um who who should recommend release but we're waiting right now to see uh what will
happen especially in light of this. >> What is the government asking? >> The government's maintaining its position to continue to detain uh >> detain or deport what is what is the ultimate what what are you afraid what's your ultimate >> uh her her detention and ultimate deportation? But I I want to refer you
to to uh council if you've got more questions about the procedural aspect of the case. I can refer you, but that's really what we're seeing. This is a contest between our ability to get Lar released and back to her family and the government's ability to continue to detain her and ultimately deport.
>> So, she was arrested in Newark. She went kind of walk me through exactly what happened, what transpired. >> I I'll refer you to our council team to walk you through the procedure of the case step by step if that's what you need. And >> do you know why Texas places? Why why she specifically went to was sent to Texas? I'll make some neutral
observations here which is that uh it's far from her family and we've seen that um uh the ICE is increasingly moving people uh to different detention facilities in a way that makes it extraordinarily hard for us to do the work that we need to do to help her. >> Has she ever been able to talk contact
has her family ever been able to contact her or is it few and far between your time? >> Uh I'll I'll refer you to councel. >> What has she shared about the conditions of the detention center? Well, you heard from her statement the the uh the detention conditions in prayerland are
are notoriously awful. They are extremely overcrowded. Uh La's ability to practice her religion uh as she so desperately wants to for her for her spirit um is is severely constrained and sorry in prayerland by virtue of the the
conditions there. This is not um this is not a place that anyone wants to be. As you've heard her say in her statement, this is a a brutal place to to um be detained, especially when the sole reason appears to be the fact that she simply exercised her constitutional right to speak out.
>> What is our immigration status? >> I'll I'll refer you to to our council team. If you want to have a counsel, >> our organization is is council. This is a sensitive legal matter. So, uh if you've got followup questions on that, I can refer you to our council team. >> Is there somebody with that information?
>> Okay, I'll follow you. She was a student at Columbia. Was she studying at Columbia? >> Um, she was merely protesting. Yeah, she was merely protesting at Columbia and that's where she was. >> Do you remember? >> I I don't have information.
>> Uh, >> uh, right now if you have got questions, they're they're for counsel. Family's not council. You say your sister's dead biological sister. >> Yeah, I realize.
>> If there are no further questions, thank you for joining us and we are going to continue to fight for her release. >> Thank you. Good luck. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.