Immigrant students detained in US moved to remote detention centres flagged for rights concerns

At least three international students recently detained by US authorities have been transferred to remote immigration detention centres in Louisiana that have faced repeated human rights abuse allegations, American media reported yesterday.

The students are identified as Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student; Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student at the University of Alabama; and Rumeysa Ozturk, a PhD candidate at Tufts University.

NBC News reported that all were arrested near their homes and relocated over 1,000 miles away to facilities described by advocates as a “black hole” for due process.

“These are facilities with horrendous conditions, poor access to legal counsel, and located in a jurisdiction highly favourable to the administration’s immigration enforcement policies,” said Mary Yanik, director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at Tulane Law School.

Khalil was arrested in New York City and sent to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena. Doroudi and Ozturk were also transferred to detention centres in Jena and Basile. Their legal representatives were not immediately informed.

Ozturk’s lawyers said her location was kept undisclosed for nearly a full day.

The Homeland Security Department has not explained the reason for relocating the detainees so far from their original locations. In Khalil’s case, court records point to overcrowding and bedbug issues in northeastern facilities.

READ: Mahmoud Khalil’s detention: A chilling signal in the crackdown on Palestinian solidarity

Louisiana has become a major hub for immigration detention since Trump’s first term. It now holds more than 7,000 ICE detainees, second only to Texas.

An August 2024 report by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and other advocacy groups found “systemic human rights abuses” at detention centres in the state, citing unsafe drinking water, poor medical care, and restricted access to lawyers.

“We met many people who didn’t have access to lawyers, family, or the outside world,” said Sarah Gillman, one of the report’s authors.

The detained students now face fast-track deportation proceedings in one of the most conservative judicial regions in the country.

“Jurisdiction affects everything from detention release to asylum approval,” said Kathleen Bush-Joseph of the Migration Policy Institute.

ICE has not addressed the latest criticism but previously stated it ensures safe and humane conditions for all detainees.