Congressional Democrats visit Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk in ICE detention centers

Washington — Democratic members of Congress on Tuesday traveled to Louisiana to meet with Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, who remain in custody at Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers as they face deportation.  

Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University, and Öztürk, a Tufts University graduate student, were separately taken into custody in March by federal authorities amid the Trump administration's crackdown on students with visas and green cards who participated in pro-Palestinian activities. 

Neither has been charged with a crime, and the lawmakers demanded their immediate release.