A delegation of five congressional Democrats traveled to Louisiana on Tuesday to visit Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk in the immigration prisons they’re being held in and to demand their release.

The group of lawmakers, led by Rep. Troy Carter (Louisiana), is the first from Congress to visit either Khalil or Öztürk since they were abducted by immigration agents last month and flown from their homes in New York and Massachusetts, respectively, to Louisiana.

The group also included Sen. Ed Markey (Massachusetts) and Representatives Jim McGovern (Massachusetts), Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts), and Bennie Thompson (Mississippi).

The lawmakers have said that Khalil and Öztürk are “political prisoners” now held in detention centers known for their abuses only because they advocated for Palestinian rights.

The administration “is seeking to circumscribe the constitutional rights of Rümeysa Öztürk, of Mahmoud Khalil, and, from my observation of these two facilities, from many other people who are incarcerated here in Louisiana,” said Markey in a press conference held by the lawmakers after the visit.........

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