Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are pushing for the release of a Houston being held in a Chinese prison. They claim that Mark Swidan has been “unjustly and arbitrarily” detained on drug charges since 2012. He was sentenced to death in 2019.

Swidan, now 46 years old, a businessman from Houston, has been in a detention center in China for more than nine years, and his mom has been on a campaign to bring him back home. She was given a dose of hope with the Trevor Reed prisoner swap. “When I saw Trevor Reed coming off the plane and being exchanged, it does give me hope that maybe, the next plane, Mark will be on it,” Swidan told ABC13.

She asks that someone reach out to her. She said she can’t let her son die there.

Mark, now 46, was arrested in China in 2012 and accused of being part of a drug conspiracy while on a business trip. His mother says he was wrongfully convicted and then sentenced to death. The United Nations Human Rights Council and other human rights organizations have called for his release. Still, Mark remains jailed in China. Reed’s release gives her hope.

“I’m hoping the same thing will happen to me. It did give me some hope that possibly they’re negotiating it and I’ll get the call and it will be done like a nightmare,” Katherine said.

She says Mark has little food. His health is deteriorating and he’s lost more than 100 pounds. She did not know a prisoner swap was possible. Reed’s parents have said they were not aware of the negotiations involving him. So, for all of Katherine’s unreturned phone calls and emails to politicians and government officials, she is hopeful something is happening in Mark’s case behind the scenes.

Today Texas lawmakers called on China to release him. Senators Cornyn and Cruz say Swidan is being “unjustly and arbitrarily” detained on drug charges. Senators Cornyn and Cruz introduced a resolution in the Senate urging the United States to “deepen and prioritize” efforts to secure Swidan’s release. Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Victoria) is introducing the same resolution in the House.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing later this week. He will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. The Texas lawmakers hope Blinken will make the case for Swidan’s release during that meeting. “Secretary Blinken’s upcoming trip to Beijing should be the final chapter in this tragedy,” Cruz said. “I am calling on the Biden administration to use all the tools at our disposal to secure his release, and on the government of China to finally release him and return him home.”

In recent months the Biden administration has secured the release of former Marine Trevor Reed and WNBA player Brittney Griner, both Texans, from Russia in prisoner swaps. Swidan’s mother hopes for the same for her son in China.

Senator Cornyn and Cruz are on the same page here.

“For the last decade, Mark Swidan’s family has tirelessly fought for his return after he was wrongfully detained and sentenced to death by the Chinese government,” Cornyn said. “The human rights abuses Mark has suffered at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party are horrific, and I will continue to push the Biden administration to expedite his case and secure his release.”

Swidan was arrested on suspicion of trafficking and manufacturing methamphetamine. Police found drugs on his driver and translator. They blamed Swidan.

The Dui Hua Foundation, a nonprofit humanitarian organization that pushes for clemency and better treatment of Chinese prisoners, said the evidence against Swidan is circumstantial. He was once in a factory that police later identified as having been used to manufacture drugs. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention reviewed the case and said no drugs were found on Swidan or in his hotel room. The prosecution did not produce any forensic evidence. Records in Swidan’s passport show he wasn’t even in China at the time of the alleged offenses. Eleven other people, all indicted in the alleged conspiracy could not identify him.

Swidan’s trial lasted for five years and he was detained for the length of it. He claims he was severely psychologically tortured to confess to the charges against him. He was sentenced to death.

“It is evident that Mr. Swidan has been unable to defend himself properly, as he has been subjected to a detention of extraordinary length, to ill-treatment and coercion to extract a confession and as he has received ineffective legal assistance,” the group found.

The Dui Hua Foundation, which has kept tabs on Swidan, says he has been deprived of sleep and food and has lost more than 100 pounds while incarcerated. The organization says he has been held in solitary confinement and only allowed one phone call to his mother, Katherine Swidan.

His mother told Reuters she hasn’t spoken to him since 2018. “My message for Blinken is: say their names,” she said of her son and other prisoners in China. “They’re American citizens. They’ve been wrongfully detained. Enough is enough.”

The Biden administration has had a mixed record concerning prisoner releases. Let’s hope Blinken steps up and brings up the release of Swidan while he is in Beijing.