US Immigration Officials Detain Turkish Graduate Student at Tufts

Rumeysa Ozturk, a doctoral student at Tufts on a valid student visa, was detained by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents near her apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts, as she was leaving to break her Ramadan fast with friends, according to her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai.

“We are unaware of her whereabouts and have not been able to contact her,” Khanbabai said, adding that no charges had been filed against her client.

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday that Ozturk had "engaged in activities in support of" Hamas, which led to the termination of her visa. Records from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) indicated that she was being held at a detention center in Louisiana.

On Tuesday night, Judge Indira Talwani of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts ordered the government not to transfer Ozturk out of the state without prior written notice to the court. It remained unclear on Wednesday whether officials had complied with the order.

Ozturk filed a court petition challenging the legality of her detention, naming Patricia Hyde, acting director of the ICE field office in Boston, and other agency officials as respondents.

Tufts University President Sunil Kumar stated in an email to the university community that the administration had no prior knowledge of the detention and had not provided any information to federal authorities.

“We realize that tonight’s news will be distressing to some members of our community, particularly the members of our international community,” Kumar wrote.

Ozturk had co-authored an opinion piece published in the Tufts student newspaper last March, criticizing university leaders for their response to calls for the school to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide" and divest from companies linked to Israel.

She is among several international students recently targeted for deportation under the Trump administration. Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian doctoral student at the University of Alabama, was also detained by immigration officials, the school confirmed Wednesday, though the reasons for his detention were unclear. US immigration officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Earlier this month, federal immigration officers arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and leader of pro-Palestinian campus protests. Khalil, a permanent US resident, has not been charged with any crime, but the administration argues that he should be deported to curb antisemitism.

Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said Ozturk was detained under a rarely used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the deportation of noncitizens deemed a threat to US foreign policy interests. The administration is also invoking this provision in Khalil’s case.

A video circulating on social media Wednesday showed a woman in a hijab and white coat being surrounded by plainclothes officers, handcuffed, and led away into an unmarked vehicle.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said her office was "closely monitoring" the situation.

“The footage of Rumeysa Ozturk’s arrest — a student here legally — is disturbing,” Campbell said. “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. This isn’t public safety, it’s intimidation that will, and should, be closely scrutinized in court.”

Ozturk previously studied psychology at Istanbul Sehir University, where she worked as a research assistant focusing on child development. Her former professor, Fatima Tuba Yaylaci, described her as deeply committed to human rights and diversity.

“She is a person who wouldn’t hurt a soul,” Yaylaci said. “She is extremely sensitive about human rights, about not hurting people, about diversity. She is a person who wants to include everyone.”

A few weeks ago, Ozturk contacted her former professor, asking for photos of her and friends to be removed from the lab’s social media page. She said she was being doxxed, with personal information about her shared online.

Canary Mission, an organization that monitors antisemitism on college campuses, has identified Ozturk on its website, citing her participation in “anti-Israel activism” in March 2024. Pro-Palestinian activists have accused the group of exposing individuals to harassment.

On January 29, President Trump signed an executive order pledging to combat antisemitism, including on college campuses, by using all available legal tools, including the deportation of individuals engaged in “unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.”

Jessie Rossman, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, condemned Ozturk’s detention.

“Nobody should be disappeared from the streets of Somerville — or anywhere in America,” Rossman said. “The government must immediately release her to her friends and community in Massachusetts.”

Tufts University, located in Medford, Massachusetts, is about seven miles northwest of Boston and adjacent to Somerville, where Ozturk was detained.