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On March 25, Rümeysa Öztürk, a 30-year-old Turkish national and Ph.D. student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents near her residence in Somerville. The arrest occurred as Öztürk was en route to meet friends and break her Ramadan fast.
Öztürk was detained without prior notice to Tufts University officials. Despite a federal judge's order requiring 48 hours’ notice before moving Öztürk out of Massachusetts, the student was nevertheless transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center. According to CNN, “On Friday, [March 28] a judge in Boston ordered Öztürk not to be deported until she can determine whether the Boston court has jurisdiction to decide if Öztürk was lawfully detained — a decision that drew praise from Öztürk’s lawyers.”
Öncü Keçeli, a spokesperson for Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed efforts by the Turkish government to secure the student's release, including consular and legal support. According to reporting by CNN International, “Öztürk is one of several international university students facing deportation following a Trump administration order to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses.”
Öztürk's arrest was reportedly linked to an op-ed she co-wrote last year in Tufts’ student newspaper. The authors called on the “university to acknowledge the Palestinian genocide, apologize for University President Sunil Kumar’s statements, disclose [the university's] investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.”
Responding to Öztürk's arrest, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested she was engaged in disruptive behavior. “If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio reportedly said. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Öztürk of “glorifying and supporting terrorists.” Friends have said that, other than co-writing the op-ed, Öztürk was not involved in pro-Palestinian protests.
On March 31, the Student Press Law Center and 13 other free speech and journalism organizations released a statement condemning what happened to Öztürk, writing that the basis on which she was detained was “a blatant disregard for the principles of free speech and free press within the First Amendment.”
Meanwhile, in Turkey, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Özgür Özel, condemned the detention of Öztürk in the strongest possible terms. Other politicians also condemned the detention, including the leader of the DEVA party, Ali Babacan, who stated that “supporting Palestine was not a crime but a conscientious responsibility.” Turkey's Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç also condemned the detention of Öztürk during a meeting, saying the action is proof that “there is no freedom of thought and human rights are not respected in so-called democratic countries.”
On April 3, university President Sunil Kumar defended Öztürk in a court document filed on the student's behalf. “The University has no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention,” wrote Kumar, according to news reports.
