International Tufts Student Detained by Feds, Video Shows Masked People Handcuffing Her
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish citizen and a doctoral student at Tufts, wrote an opinion essay for her school newspaper The Tufts Daily last March. She, along with three other students, penned the piece criticizing university leaders for their response to its community union Senate passing resolutions demanding Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments, and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
On Tuesday night, Ozturk was detained by agents from the Department of Homeland Security when on her way to break her Ramadan fast with friends, her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, said in a petition filed in Boston federal court. Ozturk, who has a valid student visa allowing her to study in the United States, was detained without any explanation, her lawyer said.
“We are unaware of her whereabouts and have not been able to contact her. No charges have been filed against Rumeysa to date that we are aware of,” Khanbabai said in a statement, per the Associated Press.
A statement posted to X by Tricia McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs of Homeland Security, claimed on Wednesday that Ozturk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” The post added that “Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated.”
Video shared by CBS News appears to show Ozturk being accosted on a sidewalk by masked and plainclothes officers who take away her phone and backpack, before handcuffing and placing her into a black, unmarked car.
The president of Tufts, Sunil Kumar, wrote an email on Tuesday to the university community addressing Ozturk’s detainment, and said they received reports that federal authorities had taken an international graduate student into custody. Kumar said that his office was told the student’s visa status has been terminated, but was still verifying this information.
Kumar and other university leaders issued a separate email on Wednesday night. “We stand with our Muslim students, especially during their observance of Ramadan, as we recognize that Rumeysa was on her way to an Iftar gathering with friends at the Interfaith Center when she was detained,” they wrote. “We are in touch with local, state, and federal elected officials and hope that Rumeysa is provided the opportunity to avail herself of her due process rights.”
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ordered that Ozturk not be moved out of Massachusetts without advance written notice to the court and gave the government until Friday to explain why the student was detained.
According to CBS News, a DHS spokesperson said on Wednesday that Ozturk is being held in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana. It was not immediately clear if the government had provided proper notice of her removal from Massachusetts.
This article was updated on March 26 at 11:57 p.m. ET to include a statement from Tuft University’s Office of the President.