Pressley Has Fought for Öztürk’s Release, Constitutional Rights to Due Process and Free Speech Since She Was Abducted in March

Pressley, Markey, McGovern Met with Öztürk at Louisiana ICE Facility in April

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) released the following statement after a district court ordered the immediate release of Rümeysa Öztürk after weeks of unlawful detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On March 25, 2025, Ms. Öztürk, a PhD student at Tufts University, was abducted by six plainclothes ICE agents off the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts. She was quickly moved across state lines and shipped more than 1,500 miles away from her community to a for-profit, privately operated detention facility in Louisiana where she has been subjected to inhumane conditions.

“We are relieved that Rümeysa has finally been ordered released. Let us be clear: Rümeysa should have never been abducted off the streets of Somerville, had her visa revoked, and moved to a detention site more than 1,500 miles away, all in violation of her constitutional rights,” said Pressley, Markey, McGovern, Warren. “Rümeysa has been unlawfully detained for six weeks in an ICE facility in Louisiana, where she has suffered intolerable living conditions and multiple intense and worsening asthma attacks. We applaud the district court’s decision to grant bail and order her release from detention, while her habeas petition is resolved. Rümeysa is a cherished member of her community, and we are relieved that she can finally return to Massachusetts. This is a victory for Rümeysa, for justice, and for our democracy.” 

Last month, Pressley, Markey, and McGovern traveled to ICE facilities in Basile and Jena, where Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil are being unlawfully detained and subjected to inhumane conditions in retaliation for their protected speech. Rep. Pressley, Senator Markey, and Rep. McGovern recounted their harrowing visit at a press conference in Boston.

This week, Congresswoman Pressley, along with Senator Markey, Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, Congressman Jim McGovern, and Congressman Troy Carter sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seeking more information on the detention conditions of immigrants held at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center (CLIPC) and the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center (SLIPC) after an oversight trip to the facilities last month.

On May 7, 2025, Pressley, Markey, and McGovern applauded the Second Circuit for ordering Rümeysa’s transfer from ICE custody in Louisiana to Vermont and rejecting the Trump administration’s attempt to delay complying with a lower court order to do so.

In a powerful New York Times op-ed, Pressley, Markey, and McGovern discussed their meeting with Ms. Öztürk in detention and warned the American people of the dangers posed by the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks on our constitutional rights to freedom of speech and due process. Full text of the op-ed is available here.

Rep. Pressley, along with Sens. Warren and Markey, have pushed for answers and action since Öztürk’s March arrest. In March, 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.

In April, 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.

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