Pressley, Markey, McGovern Join Ranking Member Thompson, Rep. Carter to Conduct Oversight, Demand Accountability

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LOUISIANA – Today, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) visited the ICE detention facilities in Basile and Jena with her colleagues, where Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil are being unlawfully detained, respectively. Joined by House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Congressman Troy Carter (LA-02), Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), the Congresswoman’s visit included direct meetings with Ms. Öztürk and Mr. Khalil, two students who have been unlawfully detained by ICE and transported to Louisiana from their homes in retaliation for their protected speech. They also met with Wendy Brito, an asylum-seeker from El Salvador and New Orleans-area resident who never returned from a regular check-in last month with ICE.

“Rümeysa Öztürk is my constituent, an accomplished scholar, and a valued member of our Massachusetts community. Like Rümeysa, Mahmoud Kahlil has committed no crime and is being punished by Donald Trump simply for exercising his right to free speech. Both are being unlawfully detained in ICE facilities a thousands miles away from home, and denied the dignity, medical care, and due process they deserve,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “We’re in Louisiana to demand answers, shine a light on this damning violation of their constitutional rights, and call for their immediate release. Our destinies are tied, and we will not allow these abuses of power to go unchecked.”

Rep. Pressley, along with Sens. Warren and Markey, have pushed for answers and action since Öztürk’s March arrest. Last month, they led over 30 lawmakers in writing to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons, demanding information about Öztürk’s arrest and detention as well as similar incidents across the country.

Earlier this month, the lawmakers sounded the alarm on Öztürk’s medical neglect in DHS custody and renewed urgent calls for her release. Last week, Pressley, Warren and Markey demanded Secretary of State Rubio released any documents related to her arrest after a recent report indicated that an internal State Department memo concluded that the key premise underlying Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk’s arrest and detention was false. Last month, Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement condemning reports that ICE arrested and detained Rumeysa Ozturk, an international student with legal status in a graduate program at Tufts University. Earlier in the week, Rep. Pressley issued a statement following reports of ICE activity in Boston and other municipalities in Massachusetts.

During her time in Congress, Congresswoman Pressley has been a leading advocate for a just and humane criminal legal system, and has visited prisons in Texas, California, and Massachusetts to hear from detainees, advocate for them, and conduct oversight on the conditions in which they are being detained. Rep. Pressley’s visit to Louisiana is a continuation of her advocacy for a People’s Justice Guarantee, her comprehensive, decarceration-focused resolution that outlines a framework for a fair, equitable and just legal system.

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