A group of Democrat lawmakers traveled to Louisiana on Tuesday to visit Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil, two students arrested for their pro-Palestinian views and held at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. The lawmakers called their detention a “national disgrace” and demanded their immediate release.
Öztürk, a Turkish national pursuing a Ph.D. at Tufts University and Khalil, a Palestinian green card holder and recent Columbia University graduate, were separately detained last month by federal agents as part of the Trump administration's growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian students.
Neither of them has been charged with a crime.
The delegation – led by Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana – traveled to the ICE facility in Jena, where Khalil is being held, and then drove two hours south to Basile to visit Öztürk, according to CNN.
The group included Senator Ed Markey and Representatives Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi.
At a news conference following their meetings with Khalil and Öztürk, Senator Markey said their detention constitutes a violation of both the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fifth Amendment right to due process.
"The Trump administration just feels it has the right to take people from across our country and put them into facilities like this. It's a national disgrace," he added.
Öztürk was arrested in March after being targeted by the pro-Israel website Canary Mission for co-authoring an op-ed that called on Tufts University to divest from Israel and recognize the "Palestinian genocide."
"She was kidnapped," said Pressley. "Taken from the incredible, close-knit, diverse community of Somerville."
"She was on her way to an iftar meal (during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan) to break her fast. She was hungry and denied food. She was thirsty and denied water. She was manhandled."
Khalil, a legal permanent resident married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested over his participation in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. Despite having no criminal charges against him, he was recently denied temporary release to attend the birth of his first child.
"This is not about enforcing the law – this is moving us toward an authoritarian state. I really worry that this administration is ushering in a new era of McCarthyism," said McGovern.
According to Markey, the Trump administration deliberately transferred both students to Louisiana, far from their homes and support networks in Massachusetts and New York, to place them under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals – a venue widely seen as hostile to immigrant rights.
"They brought her 1,500 miles from Somerville, Massachusetts," said Markey, referring to Öztürk.
"Why did they do that? Because this is the single most conservative Circuit Court of Appeals in the United States of America. They are seeking to circumscribe the constitutional rights of Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil."
The lawmaker also raised concerns about Öztürk's health.
"She has suffered multiple asthma attacks," Markey said. "They are not getting the medical attention that they need and deserve in this facility."
Pressley said Khalil, who fled Syria under the Assad regime, understands firsthand what political repression looks like.
"He knows what an authoritarian regime looks like – this is it," she said.
The Trump administration has defended its actions by invoking a rarely used section of immigration law that allows the government to deport individuals whose presence is deemed to have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."
Öztürk and Khalil are both challenging their detentions in court. Öztürk's lawyers argue that her writings are constitutionally protected speech.
Earlier this month, a judge ruled that Khalil – a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., the child of Palestinian refugees and a student who helped lead demonstrations at Columbia University last year – is eligible for deportation.
