The cases of Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi represent two ongoing blows to the current administration’s ongoing attempt to turn the U.S. into a police state. Both activists were kidnapped by ICE and shipped far from their homes without due process. Both Öztürk and Mahdawi have been ordered released and returned to their homes by federal judges.
Öztürk and Mahdawi are still being pursued for deportation by ICE, but in the meantime they are both suing the government for wrongful arrest.
Mahdawi said he is not afraid of the government, that he plans to continue protesting, and that his school, Columbia University, is a puppet of the Trump administration: “Columbia University is participating in the destruction of the democratic system… They are supporting the initiatives and the agenda of the Trump administration, and they are punishing and torturing their students.”
Öztürk spoke to the press upon her return to Boston after six weeks in horrible conditions at a Louisiana detention center. She ended her remarks with a plea on behalf of her fellow detainees: “Please don’t forget about all these wonderful women in the immigration detention system,” she said. “I was so tired of witnessing cries and pain that can be all preventable.”