Pressley Recently Visited Student Political Prisoners Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud at ICE Detention Centers in Louisiana

BOSTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s abrupt reinstatement of international student visas. Earlier this week, Rep. Pressley, along with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. James P. McGovern (MA-02) traveled to Louisiana to meet with her constituent Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil, two students who have been unlawfully detained by ICE and transported to Louisiana from their homes in retaliation for their protected speech.

“The Trump Administration’s termination of thousands of student visas was not only cruel and unjust—it was unlawful. These terminations should never have taken place and this reversal, while long overdue, also makes plain that it was never about protecting national security, but rather about silencing dissent, restricting due process, and sowing fear on our campuses and in immigrant communities,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “While we wait to learn more about the impact of this action and how many visas will be restored, one thing is clear: any student unlawfully detained, including my Somerville constituent Rümeysa Öztürk, must be immediately released. We cannot allow these attacks on our democracy to continue, and we must keep working to protect our Constitution, our students, and our immigrant neighbors.”

Earlier today, Rep. Pressley, Sen. Markey, and Rep. McGovern published an op-ed in the New York Times in which they discussed their meeting with Rümeysa 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.

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.

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