‘This is repression’: Mass. lawmakers decry Tufts student’s living conditions after visiting detention facilities

In Özturk’s case, her lawyers say she was held for coauthoring a pro-Palestinian op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper. While a Louisiana immigration judge refused to release her on bond, a federal judge in Vermont granted a temporary restraining order preventing her deportation, and ordered her returned to Vermont for her case to be heard. The government filed a notice Tuesday that it intends to appeal.

“This is not immigration enforcement — this is stifling dissent," Senator Ed Markey told reporters at Logan Airport Wednesday. “This is repression, this is authoritarianism in the Trump era, and Rümeysa is the victim of it.”

Efforts to spotlight Öztürk’s and Khalil’s cases in Louisiana come as federal judges have sounded alarms that the administration’s immigration actions have repeatedly violated the law and could be unconstitutional. The administration has defended its policies, saying it has moved to deport immigrants they claim expressed antisemitic views.

The Massachusetts delegation to Louisiana included Markey and Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Jim McGovern, who urged their Republican colleagues to push back on the Trump administration. They were joined by the House Homeland Security Committee’s top Democrat, Mississippi Representative Bennie Thompson, and Louisiana Representative Troy Carter.

Özturk, who is from Turkey, was obtaining her doctorate degree in child and human development on a student visa at Tufts University. In March, masked immigration officers apprehended her in Somerville, after which she was quickly transferred to New Hampshire, Vermont, and then Louisiana.

Khalil, a Palestinian green card holder born in Syria, was a prominent leader in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel at Columbia University. He was the first high-profile student to be arrested and has been detained in Louisiana for six weeks — including during the birth of his first child Monday.

Neither Özturk nor Khalil has been charged with a crime. They are among more than 100 international students across New England whose visas were revoked by the Trump administration, and an estimated thousands more across the country.

“This starts with Rümeysa and Mahmoud, but it ends with you,” McGovern, co-chair of the US House’s Human Rights Commission, said at Logan Airport on Wednesday.

He called the students “political prisoners,” adding, “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.”

Speaking Tuesday outside the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, La. — the all-women facility where Öztürk is held — Pressley described what they saw as “damning.”

“The women that we just met in here, at Basile, have questioned if God has forgotten about them, if the world has forgotten about them,” Pressley said. “We are here to let them know that we have not forgotten about them, and we are fighting for them.”

When they saw Öztürk, the doctoral student greeted the members of the delegation with a smile, Pressley said. They went in for a hug. Still, despite the gentle grin, Öztürk, who is Pressley’s constituent, expressed concern for her safety.

“As we were leaving, she asked for us to pray for her,” Pressley said Tuesday. Öztürk told the congresswoman, according to Pressley: “‘I’m afraid that something will happen to me and no one will be able to get to me, or no one will even know.’”

A spokesperson for the GEO Group, which operates the Louisiana detention center, disputed the Congress members’ accounts, saying the organization adheres to standards established by the US Department of Homeland Security.

“These allegations are part of a longstanding, politically motivated, and radical campaign to abolish ICE and end federal immigration detention by attacking the federal government’s immigration facility contractors,” the spokesperson said.

The Congress members doubled down on their descriptions of the facilities Wednesday: Markey said those in the center told them “this is a torture place and not a detention place.” Pressley described what they saw and heard as “harrowing,” saying many women there have a history of humanitarian work.

Öztürk told the representatives she was denied food and water for hours while being transferred, Pressley said, and was later afraid to eat because she feared it might be poisoned. Her lawyers said in court documents Öztürk experienced multiple asthma attacks without access to her medication. Pressley said she heard some women, including those who were pregnant or had cancer, were denied proper medical care and sleep.

Öztürk’s case has been further complicated by disagreement over whether federal district judges reviewing due process concerns have jurisdiction over the immigration cases. Trump officials have argued all immigration cases fall under the purview of immigration judges overseen by the executive branch’s Department of Justice.

The immigration judge who denied Öztürk bond last Wednesday deemed she was a “flight risk.” But on Friday, Vermont District Judge William Sessions III ruled Öztürk must be returned to Vermont by May 1. Sessions, who earlier voiced concerns about whether a constitutional crisis could arise if he ruled in Öztürk’s favor, also granted an order preventing her removal.

Markey, Pressley, and Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter Tuesday to Kristi Noem, secretary of Homeland Security, and Todd Lyons, acting director of US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, questioning why the Trump administration had moved Öztürk to Louisiana after she was arrested in Massachusetts. They accused the government of “judge shopping” because judges in the Louisiana jurisdiction often have more conservative views that align with the administration.

Without Republican support, congressional Democrats have little power over President Trump’s policies. Still, Massachusetts’ representatives say they hope elevating Öztürk’s story will encourage people to mount public pressure, calling their trip to Louisiana “real-time oversight.”

The Massachusetts delegation also expressed hope that public spotlight on the cases will force Republicans to respond, noting they have faced blowback from constituents over Trump’s policies. While “we don’t know where the breaking point is for Republican members,” Markey said Wednesday, “I have confidence there will be Republicans of conscience who will break with the president.”

Republicans, McGovern added, are “seeing this mass movement growing in opposition to the excesses of this administration and guess what? They’re starting to fear their constituents.”

Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at giulia.mcdnr@globe.com. Follow her @giuliamcdnr. Tal Kopan can be reached at tal.kopan@globe.com. Follow her @talkopan.