Rumeysa Ozturk Tufts grad student advocating for Palestine detained by ICE in the latest ‘crackdown’ on free speech critical of Israel. What happened to first amendment rights and due process? Trump administration claims Turkish native is an active supporter of Hamas. But is she?
Is the Trump administration going too far? In the latest targeting of students ‘expressing’ solidarity with Palestine amid ongoing violence at the hands of Israel, the Trump administration has yet again sought to detain another student, this time, a Tufts international graduate student over her stance with respect to the ongoing Gaza-Israel conflict.
Rumeysa Ozturk, a native of Turkey, with a valid student visa was ‘ambushed’ by plainclothes-masked agents with the Department of Homeland Security, late Tuesday outside her apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts, while she was heading to an iftar dinner during Ramadan the student’s attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, told The Boston Globe.
Student activism, at what cost?
The PhD student’s arrest follows neighbors saying they had seen agents in unmarked cars monitoring the doctoral student’s apartment for two days prior to Ozturk’s detainment, the outlet reported.
The Tufts graduate’s arrest comes after the pro-Israel group Canary Mission flagged Ozturk for having ‘engaged in anti-Israel activism in March 2024.’
That activism, according to the group, consisted of co-authoring an op-ed in The Tufts Daily, a student newspaper, in which Ozturk and three other graduate students called on the school to ‘acknowledge the Palestinian genocide’ and divest from companies with ties to Israel, as called for in resolutions passed by the student Senate.
‘We, as graduate students, affirm the equal dignity and humanity of all people,’ the students wrote in the article, published March 26, 2024, Salon reported.
Tufts University President Sunil Kumar acknowledged Ozturk’s arrest in a Tuesday night statement that identified her only as an ‘international graduate student.’
‘From what we’ve been told subsequently, the student’s visa has been terminated, and we seek to confirm whether that information is true,’ Kumar said.
Mahsa Khanbabai, Ozturk’s attorney, told Salon that her client has a valid F-1 student visa and was ‘heading to meet with friends to break her Ramadan fast’ when she was detained by DHS agents outside her home.
Did Rumeysa Ozturk Tufts graduate student engage in activities in support of Hamas?
‘We are unaware of her whereabouts and have not been able to contact her. No charges have been filed against [her] that we are aware of,’ Ozturk’s attorney said in a statement.
In a statement to Salon, a Trump administration spokesperson asserted, without providing evidence, that ‘DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas.’ The spokesperson did not suggest Ozturk had committed any crime, and confirmed that she had permission to be in the U.S. as a foreign student, while asserting that a ‘visa is a privilege, not a right.’ (but what about a student’s or individual’s right to free expression and due process?)
‘Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated,’ the spokesperson said. ‘This is commonsense security.’
But is it? Or is the strangling of free speech or attempting to negate the proliferation of opinions, ideas critical of Israel? Or any government, whether the U.S or any other foreign state? What’s in the power of language? What’s in the power of bombs dropping over one’s head?
As of Wednesday morning, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee database identified Ozturk as being ‘In ICE Custody.’ It did not list a location.
‘This arrest is the latest in an alarming pattern to stifle civil liberties,’ Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said in an emailed statement, Zeteo reported. ‘The Trump administration is targeting students with legal status and ripping people out of their communities without due process. This is an attack on our Constitution and basic freedoms — and we will push back.’
Massive rally underway in Somerville after ICE took a Tufts University student into custody.
A DHS spokesperson says Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national, “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.”
Her supporters say she was detained because of her pro-Palestinian views. pic.twitter.com/ZWG4kkA0Jh
— Rob Way (@RobWayTV) March 26, 2025
What does the future of student activism hold?
Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who represents the district where Ozturk was detained, echoed Warren, saying: ‘This is a horrifying violation of Rumeysa’s constitutional rights to due process and free speech. She must be immediately released. And we won’t stand by while the Trump Administration continues to abduct students with legal status and attack our fundamental freedoms.’
On Tuesday night, Khanbabai filed a habeas petition on Ozturk’s behalf, seeking to prevent her from being transported out of state. That request was granted by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who in a court order declared that Ozturk ‘shall not be moved outside the District of Massachusetts without first providing advance notice of the intended move.’
Ozturk is the latest foreign-born student to be targeted by the Trump administration for speech critical of Israel. Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident and student at Columbia University, was arrested earlier this month and accused, without evidence, of being a supporter of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza. Another permanent resident and Columbia University student, Yunseo Chung, has also been targeted for potential removal, according to her attorneys, although she has not yet been detained. The 21 year old former valedictorian continued to remain in hiding.
Badar Khan Suri, a student at Georgetown University, was also detained earlier this month and accused without evidence of supporting Hamas. A judge has at least temporarily blocked his deportation.
Ozturk’s detention comes as Israel has renewed its military assault on the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of civilians in air strikes over the past week and promising the territory’s ‘complete destruction and devastation’ if Hamas does not hand over the remaining Israeli hostages. Hamas has in turn claimed, Israel reneging on a previous hostage ceasing deal, a deal many claim, Israel and the US government, its chief ally, never intended to keep in the first place…
