Latest news with #AyannaPressley
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
They served their time, so why can't they leave prison behind?
Editor's note: This story is part of 'Hard Times,' a special report by The Republican on the challenge of healing from civic trauma. For many felons, prison ends, but the damage doesn't. They struggle with post-incarceration syndrome — a PTSD-like condition that makes rebuilding their lives an uphill battle. Without the right support, many battle anxiety, depression and the weight of their past. That struggle often leads to joblessness, addiction and ending up back in prison. Some lawmakers and civil rights groups are pushing for better research and more support. In 2023, U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Grace Napolitano urged the National Institute of Mental Health to study post-incarceration syndrome and its consequences, highlighting how carceral environments lead to lasting mental health damage. The NAACP says nearly 2.3 million people are locked up in the U.S., yet most don't get treatment for PTSD. Without help, people bring that trauma home to their families and neighborhoods. As such, the NAACP has called for trauma-informed care for former prisoners. Holyoke City Councilor Israel Rivera has a recurring dream that he's back in prison. 'I still wake up in hot sweats, stressed out, wanting to cry, because I got a family now,' Rivera said in a recent interview at the Holyoke office where he works as a regional manager for Families First, a nonprofit that supports parents throughout Massachusetts. In the early 2000s, law enforcement officers raided a home Rivera was in. Rivera was arrested and served five years on drug-related charges. He was not far from adolescence, having just turned 21. Since getting out, he's struggled to leave prison behind. As an example, he told the story of a dinner party where he introduced himself as an 'ex-felon.' A woman asked, 'Why do you do that?' He hadn't thought about it. In part, he wants to humanize other felons. He wants to let people know that they are people like him. He uses his presence to challenge prejudices. 'But then I was like, damn, it's been over 10 years since I came out of jail. Why am I still saying that?' Rivera said. He's not sure why, but he knows prison is still inside him. 'It is still in my head,' he said. 'I'm keeping myself in a kind of box. That's PTSD.' In prison, Rivera dreamed of home. But when he woke up, the bars were still there. Now that he's home, his dreams have reversed. 'Now I dream I'm still in prison,' he said. Rivera's story is far from unique. A lot of people in prison were struggling kids first — kids who never got the help they needed. 'If we don't reach young people early and help them heal, they'll carry that trauma into adulthood — filling our prisons instead of reaching their potential,' said Leon Smith, executive director of Citizens for Juvenile Justice. For 30 years, the Boston nonprofit has worked to reform the juvenile justice system in Massachusetts, advocating for policies that address the root causes of criminal behavior. Smith said Massachusetts has made strides in this area. A recent MassINC and Boston Indicators report found that since Massachusetts passed criminal justice reform legislation in 2018, incarceration rates have dropped nearly 50%. The sharpest reductions have come in the last five years, driven by investments in prevention, treatment and reentry support in the Commonwealth. 'Which largely avoided the major spikes in crime experienced in other cities and states during the pandemic,' the report stated. While these improvements are promising, Smith warns that the decline in incarceration has slowed. Between 2022 and 2023, Massachusetts' prison population dropped by only 166 people, according to the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. The real fix, Smith said, is making sure every young person has access to mental health care. 'I have professional friends who are parents and are having a difficult time getting mental health support for their kids,' he said. 'Now consider what it's like when you are at the intersection of race and poverty in our commonwealth. Those parents are having an even more difficult time.' Read the original article on MassLive.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Ilhan Omar addresses murder of Israeli Embassy staff
Rep. Ilhan Omar shockingly refused to acknowledge the deadly shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum overnight that left two Israeli Embassy staffers dead. The pro-Palestinian congresswoman when asked about the tragedy brushed-off the query despite widespread fury over the anti-Semitic murders – even from other pro-Palestinian members of Congress. 'Congresswoman Omar, can I get your reaction to the shooting that happened in DC last night?' a reporter asked outside the Capitol on Thursday morning. The progressive Minnesota representative responded nonchalantly as she was walking: 'I'm going to go for now.' She then briskly walked away from the cameras and reporters. A few hours later, and afte r mounting outrage over her lack of condemnation, Omar was forced to release a statement on X on the horrific murders. 'I am appalled by the deadly shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum last night,' she wrote. 'Absolutely nothing justifies the murder of innocents,' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. 'I am devastated by the killing of two people outside an AJC Global event here in Washington. Our prayers are with the victims, families, and loved ones of all impacted.' 'As we await more details, we must be clear that hatred has no home here. Antisemitism is a threat to all we hold dear as a society. It must be confronted and rooted out everywhere,' the New York Democrat concluded. Meanwhile, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) wrote on X early Thursday morning: 'The murder of two Israeli embassy staff outside an AJC Global event in DC is unconscionable and unacceptable.' 'Our freedoms and our destinies are truly tied. I'm praying for the victims, their loved ones, and everyone impacted,' she added. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only lawmaker of Palestinian descent, did not weigh-in on the shooting as of early Thursday afternoon. The shooting suspect identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez was taken into custody and questioned overnight, the FBI said. He was caught on camera repeatedly shouting 'Free Palestine' as he was arrested. Omar, a Somali refugee, is one of the most outspoken on Capitol Hill in support of Palestinians amid the ingoing war with Israel. Since getting into office, Omar has faced widespread criticism for sharing anti-Israel sentiments and pushing tropes insulting to Jewish people. Back in 2019, Omar was forced to apologize for her a string of comments seen as insulting, insensitive and downright anti-Semitic. In a tweet at the time, the then-freshman congresswoman linked support for Israel to financial contributions by writing: 'It's all about the Benjamins.' She was accused of using the Puff Daddy song line to call up a harmful stereotype of Jewish Americans. After a phone call with Democratic leadership, Omar apologized for using old anti-Semitic tropes about Jews and money.
Globe and Mail
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Turkish Tufts University student back in Boston after release from Louisiana detention center
A Tufts University student from Turkey returned to Boston on Saturday, one day after being released from a Louisiana immigration detention centre where she was held for over six weeks. Upon arrival at Logan Airport, Rumeysa Ozturk told reporters she was excited to get back to her studies during what has been a 'very difficult' period. 'In the last 45 days, I lost both my freedom and also my education during a crucial time for my doctoral studies,' she said. 'But I am so grateful for all the support, kindness and care.' A federal judge ordered Ozturk's release Friday pending a final decision on her claim that she was illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing her university's response to Israel and the war in Gaza. Ozturk said she will continue her case in the courts, adding, 'I have faith in the American system of justice.' She was joined by her lawyers and two of Massachusetts' Democratic members of Congress, Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley. 'Today is a tremendous day as we welcome you back, Rumeysa,' Markey said. 'You have made millions and millions of people across our country so proud of the way you have fought.' Appearing by video for her bail hearing the previous day, Ozturk, 30, detailed her growing asthma attacks in detention and her desire to finish her doctorate focusing on children and social media. U.S. District Judge William Sessions in Vermont ruled that she was to be released on her own recognizance with no travel restrictions. She was not a danger to the community or a flight risk, he said, while noting that he might amend the release order to consider any conditions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in consultation with her lawyers. Sessions said the government offered no evidence for why Ozturk was arrested other than the op-ed. The U.S. Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review did not respond to an e-mail message seeking comment Friday afternoon. Ozturk was one of four students who wrote the opinion piece last year in campus newspaper The Tufts Daily. It criticized the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts 'acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,' disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel. On March 25 immigration officials surrounded Ozturk in Massachusetts and took her into custody. She was then driven to New Hampshire and Vermont and flown to a detention centre in Basile, Louisiana. Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said. Ozturk's lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont. A State Department memo said Ozturk's visa was revoked following an assessment that her actions ''may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization' including co-authoring an op-ed that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus.' A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March, without providing evidence, that investigations found that Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group. This week a federal appeals court upheld Sessions' order to bring Ozturk back to New England for hearings to determine whether her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process, were violated, as her lawyers argue. Immigration proceedings for Ozturk, initiated in Louisiana, are being conducted separately in that state and Ozturk can participate remotely, the court said.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pressley warns ‘this could be anyone' upon Rümeysa Öztürk's return to Boston
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), alongside Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), welcomed Tufts University Ph.D. student Rümeysa Öztürk back to Boston after she was detained for nearly two months over a campus op-ed that condemned the war in Gaza. The lawmakers spoke about Öztürk's return at the city's Logan Airport on Saturday, after a federal judge ordered she be released from a Louisiana facility where she was held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 'It has nothing to do with foreign policy. It has everything to do with power,' Pressley told the crowd during a Saturday presser about Öztürk's detention. 'This is simply about silencing dissenting voices. And so, this could be anyone…,' she continued. The Trump administration has targeted students, including Mahmoud Khalil, who've openly supported Palestine's quest to be recognized as a state. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has been treating reports of similar statements as 'antisemitic' remarks that must be cracked down upon by school administrators or warrant federal backlash. However, Pressly says, the efforts to quell voices of opposition aren't limited to conflicts overseas. 'It could be you for suffering a miscarriage. It could be you for reading a banned book. It could be you for practicing diversity, equity and inclusion- all things that they seek to re-criminalize,' Pressley said at the press conference, noting other Republican targets. Markey doubled down on her statements, saying, 'It's a victory for Rümeysa. It's a victory for justice. It's a victory for our democracy.' 'Let us not be fooled into thinking that we are different from Rümeysa. That what she has had to endure could never happen to any of the rest of us. Her rights to due process and free speech are everyone's rights,' he added. Öztürk, a Turkish national, is now out on bail and must return for a court date in Vermont on May 22 to discuss her detainment. 'I have faith in the American system of justice,' she said during Saturday's presser. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended Öztürk's detention in March. 'We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campus. We've given you a visa and you decide to do that we're going to take it away,' he previously told reporters. 'We don't want it. We don't want it in our country. Go back and do it in your country,' he added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘We welcome you home': Rümeysa Öztürk returns to Massachusetts after 45 days in ICE detention center
'Thank you, everyone, for all your support and love." A message of appreciation from Rumeysa Ozturk as she returned to Massachusetts after 45 days at an ice detention facility in rural Louisiana. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley welcomed Ozturk back to Massachusetts. 'Rumeysa, my sister, our sister, we welcome you home." On Saturday night, Ozturk was joined by her legal team, Massachusetts Politicians, and members of the ACLU, for a non-traditional homecoming upon her arrival at Logan International Airport. Ozturk addressed journalists there. 'This has been a really difficult time for me,' Ozturk said, 'in the last 45 days, I lost both my freedom and also my education.' In late March, ICE agents apprehended the Tufts University student from the streets of Boston The federal government cites a pro-Palestine article that she co-wrote in a student newspaper for her detainment. One of Ozturk's attorneys, Mahsa Khabobai, called out the government for its actions toward her. 'I call on the government to focus their resources on actual threats to our nation,' said Khabobai,, 'not talented international students international scholars, immigrants who have been wrongly vilified... This homecoming is only the beginning of the fight.' Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley are also issuing a warning to all Americans that Ozturk's case should be a wake-up call that our constitutional rights could be on the line. 'Let us not be fooled into thinking that we are different from Rumeysa, that what she has had to endure could never happen to any of the rest of us.' But despite the concern and the big unknown of what's ahead for Ozturk, and the many others who have been detained by ICE, a message of faith. "America is the greatest democracy in the world, and I believe in those values that we share." In response to Ozturk's release, the Department of Homeland Security tells Boston 25 news that Friday's federal ruling 'does not prevent her continued detention. Meanwhile, Ozturk still faces removal from the United States. Her attorneys say there are hearings scheduled later this month. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
