A Tufts University student was arrested and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday. Rumeysa Ozturk was seen being taken into a van by plain clothes officers. Her visa was suspended after she co-wrote an article published in a student newspaper in support of Palestine.
Ozturk is a 30-year-old Fulbright scholar pursuing a PhD in child study and human development at Tufts University. Her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, told NBC Boston that she was attending the institution on an F-1 student visa, which was valid but has been terminated.
What happened to Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk?
On Tuesday night, Ozturk was recorded screaming as ICE agents surrounded her in plain clothes near campus. She was then taken away and detained.
“It looked like a kidnapping,” a neighbor whose surveillance camera recorded the scene told the Associated Press. “They approach her and start grabbing her with their faces covered. They’re covering their faces. They’re in unmarked vehicles.”
Ozturk was taken to several government buildings in New England before being flown to detention in Louisiana.
“Over twenty-four hours after her arrest, Rumeysa was processed at her final detention facility after being driven to multiple government offices in New England and flown to Louisiana on early Wednesday morning,” her attorney Mahsa Khanbabai said, per NBC Boston. “Throughout that period of time, my client was not charged or given the opportunity to speak with a lawyer. I had the opportunity to speak with Rumeysa on Thursday late night and she was grateful to finally get an explanation of what was happening to her and to learn of all the community support she has.”
Ozturk’s detention in Louisiana may have gone against court orders
After her arrest, a federal court judge ordered that she be not taken out of Massachusetts without notice. Her attorney said she was unable to contact her client for hours. Khanbabai added that Ozturk hasn’t been charged with a crime.
“We recognize how frightening and distressing this situation is for her, her loved ones, and the larger community here at Tufts, especially our international students, staff, and faculty, who may be feeling vulnerable or unsettled by these events,” a university statement said, according to The Washington Post.
Ozturk was arrested for her public support of Palestine
Khanbabai said her client was arrested because she practiced her right to free speech.
“We should all be horrified at the way DHS spirited away Rumeysa in broad daylight,” Khanbabai said, according to NBC Boston. “No person, regardless of their citizenship status, should be targeted over their views, especially in support of human rights.”
Ozturk co-wrote an op-ed published in March 2024 in The Tufts Daily, a university newspaper. In the article, students called out Tufts’s response to student support of Palestine and wanted to “to hold Israel accountable for clear violations of international law.”
The Department of Homeland Security accused Ozturk of supporting Hamas but did not provide additional details of her alleged involvement.
“A visa is a privilege not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security,” the DHS wrote in a statement.
Students and experts have rallied in support of Ozturk
A 2,000-people rally was organized near Tufts University on Wednesday. Students say she was targeted for calling out Israel and her open support of Palestine.
“Based on what we now know, it is alarming that the federal administration chose to ambush and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding individual because of her political views,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said, per The Washington Post. “This isn’t public safety, it’s intimidation that will, and should, be closely scrutinized in court.”
Other students and scholars were arrested
Ozturk is one of several students and scholars who ICE has recently arrested over their personal views and open support of Palestine. Yunseo Chung, a student at Columbia University, has sued the Trump administration after ICE agents sought to arrest and deport her. Columbia protest leader and green card holder Mahmoud Khalil was detained, while Cornell University student Momodou Taal was sent a deportation order.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration requested to have the names and nationalities of students who participated in protests in support of Palestine, according to The Washington Post.
The administration was also sued by the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association over what they call the “ideological-deportation policy.” They allege the government’s policies “fail to give noncitizen students and faculty fair warning as to what speech and association the government believes to be grounds for arrest, detention, and deportation.”
