Dem congressional members visit Mahmoud Khalil, Rmeysa ztrk in ICE detention centers: They want to go home

A group of Democratic congressional reps traveled to Louisiana to visit Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk in a pair of federal detention centers on Tuesday as both face potential removal from the United States.Five lawmakers — including Rep.Troy Carter, of Louisiana; Rep.

Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi; and Reps.Ayanna Pressley, Jim McGovern and Sen.

Ed Markey, all of Massachusetts — stopped by a federal Immigration of Customs Enforcement facility in Jena to see Khalil and then traveled to Basile, where Öztürk is detained, CNN reported.The two foreign nationals were picked up by federal authorities at different times last month and are facing deportation from the Trump administration, which argued they’re each a threat to national security.Khalil, who recently completed graduate studies at Columbia University, and Öztürk, a Tufts University PhD student, have both expressed anti-Israel views amid the Jewish state’s war in Gaza against Hamas.“I’m here to check on her and to let Rümeysa and Mahmoud — who we’ll also be visiting, I hope I’ll have the opportunity to speak with them both,” Pressley said in a video posted on social media Tuesday.“I want them to know that we have not forgotten about them — that we are fighting for them, we are fighting for their justice, that we are fighting for their freedom.”Markey, in a social media video, said he met with Khalil and called for his freedom.“The Trump administration is citing a foreign policy threat against Khalil, which are baseless and illegitimate,” he said.

Lawmakers said they entered both facilities to inspect their conditions.The trip is the first time members of Congress have visited either Khalil or Öztürk, CNN reported.The visits come a week after Maryland Sen.

Chris Van Hollen traveled to see El Salvador national and accused MS-13 gang member, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, in the Central American nation.An immigration judge in Louisiana has ruled Khalil, 30, who is a lega...