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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (1st District of Washington)

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) visited August Wilson Place, a 57-unit affordable housing development in downtown Bellevue, to highlight the nationwide shortage of affordable housing. The property was made possible because of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC/Housing Credit), the nation’s most effective tool for creating affordable housing. During the visit, DelBene participated in a roundtable to hear from a wide range of local housing stakeholders, including Bellevue community officials, property operators, housing advocates, employers, and facility residents.

Washington faces one of the most severe affordable housing shortages in the country, with more than 250,000 households spending over half of their income on rent. The Housing Credit has been instrumental in financing the construction and preservation of over 4 million affordable homes nationwide since its inception.

Earlier this month, DelBene introduced bipartisan legislation with over 100 members of the House that would build or restore 1.6 million more affordable homes, including 53,000 in Washington, by expanding the Housing Credit.

“Access to a safe, affordable home is foundational to a family’s well-being, yet far too many families in Washington are being priced out of their communities,” said DelBene. “This development underscores the impact the Housing Credit can have and why it’s a proven solution to help address the affordable housing crisis. This crisis won’t be solved overnight, but with the right tools and smart federal investment, we can make a real difference. Expanding the Housing Credit is one of the most effective ways we can deliver the affordable housing our state desperately needs.”

“LIHTC is the single most important source of financing for creating and preserving affordable housing in Bellevue,” said Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson. “Expanding LIHTC through the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act will help us to create more housing opportunities for families, seniors, low-wage workers, and people seeking stable housing.”

This week, House Democrats are hosting a Cost of Living Week of Action to highlight the affordability challenges facing American families.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA)

Sherman Oaks, California – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman issued the following statement in observance of the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“Today marks the 110th anniversary of the murder of 1.5 million Armenians, Greeks and other Christians by the Ottoman Empire. 110 years later, too many still deny the first genocide of the 20th century. My heart is with the Armenian people, who continue to face anti-Armenian hatred up until this very day.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Representing the 12th District of California

San Francisco – Today, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi hosted a Cost of Living Week of Action press conference at Arcadio’s Produce in the heart of The SF Market, bringing together San Francisco small business owners and community leaders to discuss how President Trump’s senseless tariffs and reckless economic policies are hurting small business owners and their employees in San Francisco.

The press conference featured Laurie Poston, Board Member of the San Francisco Market; Lauren Crabbe, Owner of Andytown Coffee Roasters; Jeanne Boes, General Manager of the San Francisco Flower Market; Juana Posadas and Manuel Orozco, General Managers of Arcadio’s Produce; Kevin Teng, Owner of SarangHello; and Sara Razavi, CEO of Working Solutions Community Development Financial Institution.

Watch the full press conference here. View photos from today’s event here.

Read Speaker Emerita Pelosi’s remarks as delivered below:

Speaker Emerita Pelosi. Good morning, everyone. Thank you to Laurie Poston for your introduction and to everyone at Arcadio’s Produce for hosting us today.

This is a remarkable place. I hope you had a chance to see the force of it all. Small businesses like Arcadio are the lifeblood of the American economy. With their great optimism, entrepreneurial wisdom, and courage.

It is a privilege to join so many small business owners and community leaders during this Cost of Living Week in America. All over the country, House Democrats are having events with the community about bringing down the cost-of-living.

That was something that the President promised in the campaign. But the exact opposite is happening now. So, this Cost of Living Week is part of a drumbeat of the national opposition to Trump’s reckless economic policies.

Now, I’ve always said, because the Democratic Party for a long time has been so enthusiastic about small business, we see it as the ultimate job creator, wealth creator for our country.

And those who engage in small business are the most optimistic. What is more optimistic than starting a small business? Maybe getting married, but maybe you have some more confidence there about what might happen.

So, thank you for your courage, your optimism. Because that, again, is the lifeblood of our economy. And we look forward to hearing your stories.

The Trump Administration’s ineptitude is tanking our economy in a self-inflicted disaster that leaves hardworking Americans bearing the brunt of the pain. Make no mistake: President Trump’s senseless tariffs are driving prices higher, draining retirement savings, look at 401(k)s, and pushing us to the brink of recession.

Here in San Francisco, Trump’s economic policies are hurting small business owners and their employees by instilling fear and uncertainty. But business has enough uncertainty as it is when you go forth. You don’t need civic uncertainty of this magnitude.

Across the country, working families could see their costs go up as much as $4,600 a year. The largest tax hike on American families in history.

I’m fond of certain quotes from Ronald Reagan. He made the best speech of anyone on immigration. I recommend you see that. It was the last speech he made as President of the United States.

He says, ‘I want to communicate a message to a country I love.’ And he talks about the Statue of Liberty and immigration. When I quote that to the Republicans, they don’t applaud.

But nonetheless, now I have to quote this to them. In 1988, President Reagan said ‘America’s most recent experiment with protectionism was a disaster for working men and women of this country. When Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1980…’

He goes back then to when Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930. ‘We were told that it would protect America from foreign competition and save jobs in this country. The actual result was the Great Depression.’

He continued, ‘We should beware of the demagogues.’ This is Reagan talking in 1988. ‘We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends, weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world while cynically waving the American flag.’ Ronald Reagan.

He then goes back to the 1930s when that was Smoot-Hawley, he said when he made his first vote for president of the United States. As a young person, he voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who overturned Smoot-Hawley. Ronald Reagan’s words were true then in 1988. And they are true now.

With the Trump tariffs fully in effect – and again, all the uncertainty – now you see it, now you don’t. Well maybe so, maybe not. San Franciscans will pay more for groceries, shoes and clothing, household necessities, auto parts, recreational items, you name it.

While Trump doesn’t care about the pain of the American people, he should have recognized the fear that he is causing, and that House Democrats are gathering across the country to stand united against his reckless economic policy.

So, again, really, that’s what we’re doing across the country this week. Some of you were with us when we had the Hands Off Our Medicaid, Hands Off Our Social Security, and now we’re talking about our economy writ large.

The best way to talk about that, though, is to hear from our small business folks. It’s now my pleasure to introduce Lauren Crabbe, founder and owner of an incredible small business in San Francisco in Andytown Coffee Roasters. Thank you for being with us and I yield the floor to you.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Representing the 12th District of California

San Francisco – Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi issued this statement on the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis:

“His Holiness Pope Francis personified our sacred responsibility in the Gospel of Matthew to honor the spark of divinity in the least of our brethren — championing the poor, the worker, the refugee and the immigrant.  He reminded us of our inescapable duty to those struggling to escape poverty and persecution in our communities and around the world.  Perhaps his most distinctive leadership will be his historic commitment to addressing the climate crisis.  In his ground-breaking encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis writes with beauty and clarity, with moral force and fierce urgency to call on all of us to be good stewards of God’s Creation.

“It is with immense sadness that Paul and I join our fellow Catholics and people of faith around the world in mourning the loss of Pope Francis: a beacon of charity, hope and love for all people of faith.  His Holiness rekindled the faith of Catholics worldwide, with a triumphant message of peace that has inspired a generation. 

“Personally, the loss of Pope Francis is devastating.  It was my high honor to attend his installation on the Feast of Saint Joseph in 2013 and to be in the House chamber during his historic address to the Congress in 2015.  In San Francisco, we take special pride in Pope Francis, as he shares the namesake of our City and honors the call of our anthem, the Song of Saint Francis, to be an ‘instrument of peace.’

“Many of us who met His Holiness know that he would always say, “Pray for me.” Now, we will pray to him and pledge to carry on his towering legacy.  May he rest in peace.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Frederica S Wilson (24th District of Florida)

Today, April 24^th, 2025, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-24) visited the U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade County.

Her visit followed reports of inhumane conditions at the Krome Detention Center, which prompted Congresswoman Frederica Wilson to write to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem requesting a visit to the Krome Detention Center. The visit also comes after the Congresswoman received letters from constituents telling her they worried about relatives who are being detained there.

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson entered the facility at 1 PM and held a press gaggle immediately following the tour at approximately 3 PM.

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson was able to tour the facility and see the holding room area, the courtroom area, the medical area, the mental health care unit, the recreational area, and a sleeping unit area. She also toured a newly built tent that the Krome Detention Facility plans on moving more detainees in as soon as tomorrow. 

For the full video of the press gaggle, click here.

For photos of the press gaggle, click here.

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and her staff were not able to take photos inside of the facility.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA)

WASHINGTON—Congressman Jim McGovern, his wife Lisa McGovern, and their son Patrick McGovern released the following statement upon the passing of Congressman McGovern’s daughter, Molly McGovern:

“Molly radiated pure joy. She lit up every room with her beaming smile—full of laughter, endless warmth, and a sharp wit that could disarm you in an instant. She was unbelievably funny, fiercely loyal, and wise beyond her years. Molly had a rare gift: She made everyone feel special, because she genuinely believed everyone was special. She treated people with compassion and kindness—always standing up for the underdog, and making fast friends wherever she went. Her love for the Boston Bruins was fierce, but it was no match for the love she gave so freely to her family and friends. If you ever met Molly, you carried a piece of her light with you. She had that kind of effect on people.

“Even as she faced a rare cancer diagnosis, she did so with relentless courage, optimism, and tenacity—refusing to let her illness slow her down. She had just finished a semester abroad in Australia. She passed away unexpectedly in Italy while visiting a good friend and his family.

“Molly will always be the soul of our family. We are so proud of her, and so glad that so many people were touched by her incredible life. We love you, Molly. We miss you already.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Don Bacon (2nd District of Nebraska)

Bacon and Crow Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Small Business Owners Save Money
Small Business Energy Loan Enhancement Act would nearly double the maximum SBA loan amount available for energy efficiency investments

WASHINGTON — Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE-02) and Jason Crow (D-CO-06) have introduced bipartisan legislation to help small business owners save money by increasing the federal loan amount available for energy efficiency investments. The Small Business Energy Loan Enhancement Act would help business owners looking to make energy efficient upgrades by expanding the maximum allowable cap on SBA 504 loans from $5.5 million to $10 million. 

Energy costs are one of the largest expenses for commercial buildings, accounting for nearly 40% of total energy consumption in the U.S. However, small businesses often do not have the cash-on-hand to finance large renovations or retrofit projects, and these projects often exceed the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) current 504 loan cap. 

“Building businesses of the future means investing in our small businesses today. Rep. Crow and I are reintroducing the Small Business Energy Loan Enhancement Act which will empower small businesses to lower costs and improve their buildings’ operational efficiency,”said Rep. Bacon. “By expanding access to capital for energy-focused investments, this legislation allows small business to freely invest in much needed infrastructure improvements, making business more profitable and sustainable.” 

Small businesses help create millions of jobs and contribute greatly to our economy. It’s critical that we support small businesses in Colorado and across the country,” said Rep. Crow. “I’m introducing bipartisan legislation to help small businesses save money and be better able to make critical improvements that will help to conserve energy and protect our environment.” 

The Small Business Energy Loan Enhancement Act is endorsed by Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International. 

“The Small Business Energy Loan Enhancement Act will make a significant difference across the country, allowing properties to make the necessary investments to reduce energy consumption and bring down energy costs,” said Manuel Moreno, Chair and Chief Elected Officer of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) 

International, the professional association representing the commercial real estate sector. “BOMA International is proud to support this bipartisan legislation, and we commend Representatives Crow and Bacon for their leadership on this issue.” 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Washington, D.C. — The Litigation and Rapid Response Task Force led 192 House Democrats in filing an amicus brief challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to close the Department of Education in the matter of the State of New York v. Linda McMahon. A case in which 20 states moved to sue the administration for its plans to place fifty percent of the Department’s workforce on administrative leave, effectively shuttering a congressionally authorized agency by way of executive fiat. 
 
By involving themselves in this legal battle, House Democrats sought to stand up for Congress’s power to ensure a quality education for all Americans—and in their filing, they argued that the Trump Administration cannot unilaterally create, dismantle, or reorganize the Education Department, nor can executive officials make solitary decisions regarding the agency’s organization and assignment of functions. The lawmakers also cited executive overreach, noting that efforts to strip support for the federal agency violate Congress’s power of the purse.  

The brief was led by Task Force Co-Chairs Jamie Raskin and Joe Neguse, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Ranking Members of the Appropriations and Education and Workforce Committees, Representatives Rosa DeLauro and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott. 

See what they had to say below: 

 “President Trump isn’t laser focused on the cost-of-living crisis that he is actually making worse. He promised to fight for the working-class but instead put Elon Musk and billionaires in charge of the government. They are attacking public education to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Musk illegally fired half of the Department of Education’s staff, the first move by the Trump Administration to illegally shutter the Department altogether,” said Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, House Committee on Appropriations. “The Department of Education was created by an Act of Congress, and so closing it would require another Act of Congress. If my House Republican colleagues want to go there, then let them sign onto a bill to do that. Let Congress debate whether providing for our children’s education, and researching the tools and methods that lead to the best educational outcomes, constitutes waste. Why is the President not focused on helping families, but instead hurting them, cutting funding that ensures teachers in low-income classrooms, and that students have food to eat in school? The government needs to work for the middle-class, the working-class, and the vulnerable—not billionaires.” 

“Abolishing a federal agency requires an Act of Congress. The Administration’s decisions to focus its attention on laying off staff rather than administering and monitoring federal education programs accomplishes nothing to improve student outcomes or deliver for working people. If the Administration’s goal is to root out waste, fraud, and abuse of federal funding and promote the most effective use of federal funds under the law to address challenges students and families face, we could work together to address those shared goals,” said Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, House Committee on Education and Workforce. “However, the sledgehammer approach of mass firings and illegal termination of grants and contracts intended to support evidence-based approaches to improving education for all students at all levels of education appear to primarily serve the interest of congressional Republicans and President Trump in claiming savings in the federal budget that they intend to use to pay for their tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations.”

“Congress established the Department of Education to create a first-class education for every child in the U.S. If anyone is going to dismantle and defund the Department of Education, it must be Congress as the lawmaking branch. We oppose and reject any effort to thwart the laws passed by Congress, a lawless and especially egregious blunder when the education of future generations is at stake,” said Task Force Co-Chair and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, House Committee on the Judiciary. “That’s why Democrats are going to court to defend the Constitution, protect our students and our schools, and halt this outrageous presidential power grab in its tracks.”

“Donald Trump’s decision to gut the Department of Education is reckless, cruel and illegal. Congress created the Department of Education and only an act of Congress can eliminate it,” said Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “The Trump administration is breaking the law and House Democrats will continue working to stop this malignant scheme in Congress and in the Courts. I am grateful to Rep. Raskin, Rep. Scott, Rep. DeLauro, Assistant Leader Neguse and the Litigation Working Group and Rapid Response Task Force for leading House Democrats in our fight against this unlawful act designed to rip away high-quality public education from our most vulnerable children.”

“President Trump’s efforts to unilaterally dismantle the Department of Education are unlawful, and would slash support for ten of millions of students and teachers, including kids learning to read and write, high schoolers looking to get their college degrees, and educators in rural and low-income communities,” said Task Force Co-Chair and Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse.  

The full brief is available HERE.  

For more information on House Democrats efforts to protect everyday Americans from the unlawful actions of the TrumpAdministration, visit litigationandresponse.house.gov. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

Congresswoman Also Discussed her Fight to Protect Federal Workers, Social Security and Medicaid, Federal Education Funding, and More

Video (YouTube)

SOMERVILLE – At a town hall yesterday at Somerville High School, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) discussed her meeting in Louisiana with Somerville resident Rümeysa Öztürk and outlined how she’s fighting back against Donald Trump’s cruel and callous agenda to divide communities and impose wholesale harm.

Having returned earlier in the day from Louisiana, Congresswoman Pressley shone light on her experience meeting with Ms. Öztürk, a Tufts PhD student, at the ICE facility where she is being unlawfully detained. She exposed the indignities, injustice, and fear that Rümeysa has endured – and how she remains kind-hearted, courageous, and committed to centering the humanity and dignity of all people.

The Congresswoman, joined for the town hall by Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, also took questions and discussed her efforts to fight back against the Trump-Musk cuts to critical federal programs like Social Security and Medicaid, her support for our federal workers and immigrant neighbors, her defense of federal Department of Education funding, and more.

A transcript with highlights from the Congresswoman’s opening remarks are available below (edited lightly for clarity), and video is available here.

Transcript: At Somerville Town Hall, Pressley Details Meeting with Detained Somerville Resident Rümeysa Öztürk
U.S. House of Representatives
April 24, 2025

Truly, it is so good to be home.

I just landed at Logan this morning returning from my trip to rural Louisiana to meet with my constituent and your neighbor Rümeysa.

Rümeysa, who has been unjustly detained as a political prisoner after being abducted from the streets of Somerville, has been detained for over a month now by ICE.

Many of you have seen the video – the harrowing video. And I wanted to thank the concerned community member and bystander. Rümeysa asked me to say that, for filming that video in the first place.

Rümeysa was taken by plainclothes officers, hurried into an unmarked car, shackled.

She shared with me that when they transitioned her from handcuffs to shackles, she thought surely she was going to bee killed, but they would torture her before.

She had no idea where she was going, why she had been abducted.

She was sent over a thousand miles away to a detention facility in Basile, Louisiana.

Let me begin by recognizing that she is detained in a for-profit facility owned and operated by a multi-billion dollar corporation. Now, I have fought long and hard against the use of private prisons and the exploitation of people in carceral settings.

And that also applies to the immigration system. Which is why I believe if you care about mass deportations, you should care about mass incarceration. And if you care about mass incarceration, you should care about mass deportations. They are two sides of the same coin.

Now, Rümeysa was transported from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to Georgia and then finally to rural Louisiana. So I went to rural Louisiana to see about her.

Alongside me was Senator Markey and Congressman McGovern. And I want to acknowledge the leadership of my brother colleague Congressman Troy Carter of Louisiana and Ranking Member Bennie Thompson who leads the House Homeland Security Committee for organizing this CODEL, this fact-finding mission.

The meeting with Rümeysa was a true testament to her character. She was kind, despite the cruelty she endured. She was dressed in an orange jumpsuit and wearing the same hijab she was arrested in.

I could feel her uneasiness. Yet she spent most of the meeting not talking about herself, but advocating for the other women locked in the facility – she had with her copious handwritten notes, putting her research skills as a PhD student to work. 

Rümeysa is enduring indignities that no one should ever have to. Denied access to legal counsel, denied access to toilet tissue even, for three days. Experiencing sleep deprivation, malnutrition, frigid temperatures. She has suffered multiple asthma attacks, and the medical care is grossly insufficient and culturally incompetent. Rümeysa shared that a nurse removed her hijab without consent.

For her and many other women we met with, the fear was palpable. They wept openly, visibly shaken. They expressed fear of never seeing their loved ones again. Fear of deportation from the only country they call home. Fear of retaliation just for being honest about their confinement.

Despite Rümeysa’s fear – actually, in spite of her fear – Rümeysa remains kind-hearted and courageous.

I asked her pointedly if she had a message for the people of Somerville and she told me to tell all of you: thank you for being her community.

On that frightful day when she was surrounded by ICE agents and unsure of what would happen to her, she looked up. She saw a neighbor that she didn’t know, hadn’t spoken to, and was pretty much a stranger. But that neighbor was recording the arrest and when they made eye contact, the neighbor raised their hand as if to say to Rümeysa: I am with you.

And she expressed just how much that meant to her, that it gave her comfort in that moment, after she had screamed, that someone cared. That she didn’t know how much they had captured but it gave her some calm, that someone had seen what had happened and maybe they will be able to help me.

And today, more than a thousand miles away, we are still with Rümeysa.

The Massachusetts 7th is not simply a congressional district; it is a community.

And in the face of a dictator, we will resist – because the only way to beat a dictator is with defiance.

That is why I am demanding answers from Marco Rubio on why Rümeysa’s visa was revoked despite a State Department memo saying she did nothing wrong.

That is why I am demanding that ICE comply with the judge’s ruling that they bring her back to New England.

That is why I am leveraging my power on the Committee on Oversight to go into these detention facilities and ensure every person is treated with dignity and respect, and have their constitutional right to due process.

Remember, this is much bigger than Rümeysa. It’s a policy of cruelty and a system of chaos.

For those who might be tempted to marginalize or to other who might be vulnerable, Donald Trump is coming after all of us.

If you are an immigrant, regardless of your status – be it as a DACA recipient, a naturalized citizen, a TPS holder, a student visa, an asylum seeker – he seeks to do things that are harmful and unconstitutional and unlawful.

I’m sure you heard him on that hot mic moment in the Oval Office, saying that he will eventually look to deport people with criminal records.

Again, blatantly unconstitutional and incredible ironic given his own criminal record.

But it is consistent, as a dictator, he seeks to silence dissent.

So when I say he is coming for all of us, I mean it could be you tomorrow. It could be you tomorrow for suffering a miscarriage. It could be you tomorrow for reading a banned book. It could be you tomorrow simply for being Black. It could be you tomorrow for being trans. It could be you tomorrow for practicing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It could be you tomorrow for co-authoring an op-ed, practicing free speech.

Our freedoms and our destinies are truly tied.

In a letter James Baldwin wrote to Angela Y. Davis, he said: ‘If they take you in the morning, they will surely be coming for us that night.’

And that is the truth.

So I am ten toes down, fighting for this district every day. It is a true honor and privilege to be your Congresswoman – I don’t take it for granted, not for a minute.

You deserve someone who fights for you in Washington like you are family – because you are.

And with that let’s get into a dialogue and answer as many of your questions as we can in this time we have together today. Thank you for being here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

At Press Conference, Lawmakers Shared Stories of Medical Neglect, Sleep Deprivation, Inadequate Food and Religious Accommodations, Cold Temperatures, Denial of Personal Necessities, and More

Video (YouTube)

BOSTON – Today, at Logan Airport in Boston, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02) held a press conference to recount their harrowing visit to Louisiana where they met with Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil at ICE detention centers. The lawmakers made the visit yesterday to ICE facilities in Basile and Jena, where Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil are being unlawfully detained and subjected to inhumane conditions in retaliation for their protected speech.

Rep. Pressley, Senator Markey, and Rep. McGovern were joined by House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (MS-02) and Representative Troy Carter (LA-02) on the visit, which also included a meeting with Wendy Brito, an asylum-seeker from El Salvador and New Orleans-area resident who never returned from a regular check-in last month with ICE.

“Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil are being unlawfully held in harrowing conditions at ICE facilities in Louisiana and enduring shameful indignities that no one person should ever have to – and yet they continue to center the dignity and humanity of all people,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07). “We will never stop fighting for Rümeysa, Mahmoud, and everyone who has been harmed by this cruel and callous White House. We reject Donald Trump’s draconian vision for our country, where dissenting voices are silenced and innocent people are disappeared off the street. He is a dictator, and the only way to beat a dictator is with defiance.”

“It’s no secret that the detentions of Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil are part of an alarming trend by the Trump administration: abduct students and secret them away to remote prisons in jurisdictions where the Administration expects to receive favorable court rulings through its forum shopping. Neither Öztürk nor Khalil has been charged with a crime. When a government imprisons individuals based on their words, denies constitutional due process for political convenience, and cloaks oppression in the language of national security, we must ring the alarm bells loudly and clearly across this country. What the Trump administration is doing is not immigration enforcement – it is authoritarianism,” said Senator Markey. 

“What’s happening to Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil is a chilling and dangerous violation of their human rights. They’ve committed no crimes, they’ve been charged with no offenses, and they’ve broken no laws. Let’s not mince words: They are political prisoners—held in detention by a government which seeks to punish them for their views and silence their speech. That is immoral and wrong,” said Congressman Jim McGovern, Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. “Their arbitrary detention and deprivation of due process is a violation not only of their constitutional rights, but also their rights under international human rights law. This starts with Rümeysa and Mahmoud—but it ends with you. Now is the time to speak out before it is too late. Unless we fight back, this administration will continue weaponizing the government to violate the human rights of those who dare to disagree. We cannot and will not accept this as the new normal.”

In Louisiana, the lawmakers held a media availability outside of the Basile facility to speak about their meetings, renew their calls for their release, demand accountability, and conduct oversight over the ICE facilities they are being held in. Full video of that media availability is available here.

A full transcript of Congresswoman Pressley’s remarks at the Boston press conference, as delivered, is available below and the full video is available here.

Transcript: Pressley Recounts Harrowing Visit with Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil at ICE Facilities in Louisiana
Boston Logan Airport
April 23, 2025

Thank you all for being here today. Indeed, it was an honor to join my delegation partners, Senator Markey, Congressman McGovern, on this important congressional delegation. 

It was an honor, and it was also our responsibility. It was essential that we go, not only to conduct oversight, but to bear witness. 

Yesterday, we visited Louisiana to conduct oversight of two ICE detention facilities in Jena and Basile, where Mahmoud Khalil and my constituent, Rümeysa Öztürk are currently being held. 

I know Rümeysa has become a symbol of the hurt and harm of the Trump administration, but she is a person. 

She is a person and a brilliant scholar, a woman who is a committed community member, someone who was making meaningful contributions to public life and academia in Massachusetts. 

She has asthma, and shamefully, she has not received adequate medical attention that she needs. 

Rümeysa has not committed any crime. She was abducted, kidnapped in broad daylight -simply for co-authoring an op-ed that this White House didn’t like, one that called for the dignity and humanity of every person to be respected. 

Detaining her serves no purpose other than to silence dissent, to stoke and instill fear – which is exactly what a dictator does. 

Similarly, Mahmoud Khalil has not been convicted of any crime. He was simply exercising his right to free speech, something that should be protected and not punished. And now, instead of being home with his wife and their newborn son, he is being unlawfully detained at a facility thousands of miles away from the community he belongs to. 

This is cruel, it is unjust, and it is unacceptable. 

We had the chance to meet with Rümeysa and Mahmoud during our visit, to hear directly from them about their experiences and conditions inside these facilities.

What we saw and heard was harrowing. It was heartbreaking, and it is enraging.

They are being denied proper medical care. They are being deprived of sleep. They are not being fed nutritious meals. Rümeysa herself shared the story of having to wait three days, despite repeated requests, simply for toilet paper. And you can’t even get an extra blanket at night when you are cold.

The cruelty is the point. 

The women that I met are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, artists, teachers, activists. They are humiliated daily, degraded, and denied the basic necessities of any human being. 

As I said, many of the women there have a history of doing humanitarian work, Rümeysa amongst them. She’s done humanitarian work with refugees, and she told us she was shocked that this sort of facility even existed in the country that she has grown to love – that this could exist in America, the country she loves dearly and has given so much to.

Mahmoud, who has lived in Syria under Assad, knows exactly what authoritarianism looks like, and offered that that is exactly what we are seeing in this moment. This is authoritarianism in Donald Trump’s America.

Despite these horrific experiences, what stood out to me the most about each of them was that their first concern – in fact, their first priority – was not to make appeal for their own respective cases and unique and extreme circumstances, but instead, they put their own well-being, safety, and uncertainty of their future to the side to advocate for those that are detained with them. 

It was the compassion that they felt, the conviction that they walked with. Rümeysa came as someone who is a qualified researcher. She’s been actively listening to and spending time with the women that she is confined with, hearing their stories, and came with copious notes that she had collected. 

Some of the stories she shared with us were stories of women being ripped away from their babies, women with breast cancer who can’t get the care that they need, pregnant women denied prenatal care. When I asked her if anyone she knew had experienced sexual abuse or assault, she told me she did not have the consent to share. 

What Rümeysa and Mahmoud are experiencing isn’t an anomaly. There are hundreds of students just like them who had their visas revoked, and there are millions of people being held in similar conditions in facilities across this country. 

These are private detention centers operated by billion dollar corporations. Like my opposition to private prisons and profiting off of mass incarceration, I vigorously oppose these companies making money on disappearing immigrants. 

As someone who has visited several detention centers throughout my time in Congress, I can tell you that this visit is not about optics. It is about accountability. It is about transparency, and it is about affirming that no one in America – regardless of background, immigration status, political beliefs, and more – should have their constitutional rights to free speech and due process ripped away. 

Before we met with Rümeysa, we went to one of the dorms – as the only woman in our delegation – when I entered, there were 15 women in the door clad in orange scrub outfits, and they just fell into my arms. 

They were desperate and crying and fearful. And they kept asking, they kept saying, ‘I want to talk to you. I want to tell you what’s happening here, but will you protect us when you leave? Who will protect us?’ They were visibly shaking. 

We went to conduct real-time oversight, we went to bear witness. I feel a responsibility to carry the stories that I heard in my heart and for that to inform my strategy and my advocacy. 

Yesterday was a physically and emotionally grueling and depleting day, and it has only strengthened each of our collective resolve to fight for Mahmoud, Rümeysa, and all that are there who question if God has forgotten about them, if the world has forgotten about them. We will not. We cannot.

Today, we’re sending a clear message to Rümeysa, Mahmoud, and everyone who has been harmed or stands to be harmed by this cruel and callous White House that we have not forgotten. We see you, and we are fighting for you every day. 

And we’re sending a message to Donald Trump, Elon Musk and their Republican co-conspirators that Congress is watching, and we will not allow these abuses of power to go unchecked. 

I want to thank Ranking Member Thompson and the House Homeland Security Committee for organizing this trip; Representative Troy Carter for hosting us; my friends and brother colleagues in the Massachusetts delegation, Senator Markey and Congressman McGovern, for showing up in solidarity and in strength. 

This is what it means to conduct real-time congressional oversight. They’re flooding the zone, and so are we. 

We will leverage every single avenue, tool available to us – we will be exhaustive. 

This is what it means to conduct real-time oversight, and this is the type of bold activist leadership that this moment demands. 

We must hold ICE and this hostile, lawless Trump administration accountable. We must protect our democracy and the fundamental rights of everyone who calls America home.

And we must bring Rümeysa and Mahmoud home now.

And with that, I’ll bring to the podium my brother colleague, Congressman McGovern, nationally known for his work in human rights.

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