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Mass. lawmakers decry ‘harrowing’ conditions at ICE facility where Tufts student is being held
The officials met with Rümeysa Öztürk, who has been collecting the stories of her fellow detainees.
Three members of Congress from Massachusetts said Wednesday that they had uncovered “alarming” facts about the ongoing detention of Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk at an ICE facility.
Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Jim McGovern held a press conference Wednesday morning inside Logan Airport after returning from Louisiana. The trio traveled there earlier this week to check on Öztürk and Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.
Öztürk and Khalil are being held in ICE detention there after being targeted by the federal government for their apparent pro-Palestine advocacy. Their student visas were revoked, but neither have been charged with a crime.
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Markey, Pressley, and McGovern took turns ripping into the Trump administration, saying it is an authoritarian entity that is undermining the rule of law and muffling free speech under the guise of a crackdown on antisemitism.
“This is stifling dissent, this is repression, this is authoritarianism in the Trump era, and Rümeysa is a victim of it,” Markey said.
Öztürk, a Turkish national and Fulbright scholar, is pursuing her PhD in child and human development at Tufts. She co-authored a pro-Palestinian op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper last year, which led to the federal government revoking her visa and labeling her as a dangerous supporter of terrorists. Those who know her vehemently deny that characterization. The federal government has produced no other evidence of Öztürk’s supposed sympathy for Hamas.
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Her arrest was captured on video and spread widely online. It came in the aftermath of Khalil’s arrest in New York. Outrage has been widespread, but political pressure has been mounting on Democratic leaders to do more to push for their release.
Markey, Pressley, and McGovern’s trip to Louisiana occurred shortly after Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland traveled to El Salvador to meet with a man the Trump administration accidentally sent to a maximum security prison there. The Massachusetts lawmakers were joined by Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter and Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson.
They met with Öztürk inside the South Louisiana Processing Center in Basile, La. The lawmakers harshly criticized the conditions there.
“We were told that this is a torture place, and not a detention place, by people inside of the facility,” Markey said.
They described traveling for hours to an ICE facility that is isolated by design. Inside, almost 1,000 women are not being provided adequate healthcare or nutritional meals, Markey said. Öztürk, according to the officials who spoke with her, described how many women cry themselves to sleep at night, worried that the world is forgetting them.
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“What we saw and heard was harrowing. It was heartbreaking, and it is enraging.” Pressley said. “The cruelty is the point.”
Öztürk’s first inclination upon meeting the lawmakers was not to advocate for herself, but to highlight her fellow detainees, Pressley said. Öztürk has been talking with other women there and taking notes while collecting their stories, she added. Öztürk described lacking medical care for women who are pregnant or have health conditions including cancer, according to Pressley.
Öztürk herself is sometimes mocked inside the facility for being educated and therefore being a “troublemaker,” according to Pressley.
“Even in the midst of all of that, she is still doing her research, she is still advocating for the women alongside her,” the congresswoman said.
The officials accused ICE of rapidly whisking Öztürk to Louisiana in order to put her case before a more conservative judge. Although an immigration judge recently denied her bond, a federal judge in Vermont ruled that her case challenging the constitutionality of her arrest should continue in Vermont.
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ICE was ordered to transfer her back to Vermont by May 1, but the federal government is reportedly appealing the decision.
Pressley said that she asked Öztürk about what sort of message she would send back to her community in Massachusetts. Öztürk told Pressley that, as she was being arrested, she noticed a neighbor filming the incident and holding up a hand to their window. That small gesture gave Öztürk comfort, Pressley said, and Öztürk wanted to express her gratitude for her neighbors in Somerville.
Although Öztürk and Khalil’s cases are among the most high-profile instances of students being targeted for their pro-Palestinian advocacy, the Trump administration revoked hundreds of student visas over similar concerns.
McGovern said that these instances should be a wake-up call for everyone in the country.
“Here is what Americans need to understand: this starts with Rümeysa and Mahmoud. But it ends with you,” he said. “If the government can imprison people like them, who dissent, without due process in this instance, there is nothing to stop the government from going after you too.”
An ICE official did not immediately respond to a Boston.com request for comment.
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