A group of Democratic Congress officials traveled to Louisiana to visit Mahmoud Khalil and Lumeisa Ozturk on Tuesday in a pair of federal detention centers.
Five lawmakers, including Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter. Rep. Benny Thompson of Mississippi. All of Massachusetts’ Ayana Presley, Jim McGovern and Senator Ed Markey stopped by federal immigrants at the customs enforcement facility in Jena to see Halil and travelled to Basile, where Öztürk was detained. CNN reported.
The two foreigners were picked up by federal authorities at various times last month and faced deportation from the Trump administration, each claiming it was a threat to national security.
Halil, who recently completed his graduate studies at Columbia University, and Öztürk, a doctoral student at Tufts University, have expressed anti-Israel views amid the Jewish state’s war in Gaza against Hamas.
“I’m here to check her out and have her be Lumeisa and Mahmoud. We’re also the ones who visit us. I hope we have the opportunity to talk to them,” Presley said in the video posted. Tuesday’s social media.
“I want them to know that we haven’t forgotten about them. We are fighting for them, we are fighting for their justice, we are fighting for their freedom.”
Markey, In social media videos, He said he met with Khalil and sought his freedom.
“The Trump administration is citing the foreign policy threat to Halil, which is baseless and unlawful,” he said.
The lawmaker said he went to both facilities to investigate his conditions.
The trip was the first time that Parliament members have visited either Khalil or Öztürk, CNN reported.
The visit comes a week after Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen traveled to meet the Salvadoranian people and accused Kilmer Abrego Garcia, a member of the MS-13 gang in the Central American nation.
The Louisiana immigration judge ruled Halil, 30, a legal permanent resident who married a US citizen, and could be deported, but it is unclear when that will happen as his legal team has the opportunity to appeal.
His wife gave birth to her first child on Monday.
Meanwhile, a federal judge ordered that by May 1, Turkish citizen Öztürk, 30, be moved to Vermont for a hearing. She was greeted by an immigration officer as she walked along the streets outside of Boston in Summerville.
Carter of Louisiana said At a press conference After the visit, both Halil and Öztürk are scared and worried.
“They want to go home,” he said.
