Imagine gasping for breath in jail.
Since her abduction, Turkish Fulbright scholar Rümeysa Öztürk has had three asthma attacks. One en route to Louisiana and twice in detention. The guards refused to give her an inhaler. Imagine panicking, gasping for breath in jail, knowing you could die in a dank, claustrophobic cell, begging an asshole guard for your life.
I imagine she tried her best to calm down to regulate her breath—I have friends with asthma who say that it’s the only thing you can do. One of them is a refugee from Syria. When he was sitting in a jail cell in Bulgaria after crossing the border, a guard dangled his inhaler in front of him and demanded a bribe. He did not have money for a bribe, and so he gasped for breath in his jail cell. Dude has nine shrapnel wounds on his body from missile strikes, but describes this as one of the most harrowing experiences of his life.
At least the enterprising Bulgarian guard had a financial angle! The Louisiana guards are either withholding the inhaler to be sadists or the facility is so poorly run they can’t procure an inhaler for a high-profile detainee having multiple asthma attacks. Good job America.
In jail, breathing is a challenge even if you don’t have asthma. I spent a mere one night in jail once in Tennessee. Over and over, I struggled for breath out of panic. Jail is terrifying. I’ve covered jails and prisons as a reporter for years and the things that can end your life in US jails and prisons are endless and medieval, from being cooked to death to beaten to death to starved to death, etc.
The discourse around Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil’s cases is focused on their potential deportations. In Khalil’s case that would be an especially shocking tragedy: he’d be sent to Syria, which he escaped as a refugee. The outcome of their deportation hearings, if they’re ordered out of the country, are not just dire for them but for America.
What is equally insane is that they’re in jail, right now. And that they’re not allowed to post bail. Since “immigration offenses” are considered civil, rather than criminal, they can’t have a bail hearing, that like, a wife beater is entitled to.
Today, the Columbia Spectator published a brilliant, heart-breaking op-ed by Khalil, dictated to his lawyer, called “A Letter to Columbia.
Since my abduction on March 8, the intimidation and kidnapping of international students who stand for Palestine has only accelerated. On March 9, Yunseo Chung had to file a lawsuit and eventually seek a court order barring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from detaining her for her protest activity. On March 11, Ranjani Srinivasan chose to cross the border to Canada upon the belief that this university was ready to hand her over to ICE. Beyond the gates of Columbia, Leqaa Kordia, Dr. Badar Khan Suri, and Rümeysa Öztürk have all been snatched by the state. The situation is oddly reminiscent of when I fled the brutality of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and sought refuge in Lebanon.
Good job America!