MEDFORD, Mass. — A Massachusetts judge is demanding answers from the federal agents who detained a Tufts University PhD student in Somerville earlier this week and rushed her away to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center more than 1,500 miles away.
Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, a resident of Somerville with a valid F-1 student status, is being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, an online detainee locator system showed Wednesday evening.
In a filing in the United States District Court of Massachusetts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter confirmed Ozturk was rushed to Louisiana after she was arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents, without access to two different medications that she needs for her asthma.
After her detainment, Ozturk’s attorney asked the court to vindicate her constitutional rights, find she was unlawfully detained, and order her release. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani then issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Ozturk was being detained. Talwani also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside the District of Massachusetts without 48 hours advance notice.
However, Ozturk was already “detained outside Massachusetts” when the petition and order were issued, Sauter confirmed in the filing.
DHS must outline its timeline for Ozturk’s arrest and transfer from Massachusetts in detail when it responds to the petition that Judge Talwani granted.
Video obtained by Boston 25 News shows Ozturk was detained near her off-campus apartment by ICE agents around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Once close to her, agents appear to pull out badges from around their necks as Ozturk is caught off guard and is heard screaming.
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said agents detained Ozturk because she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.”
“Rumeysa Ozturk is a Turkish national and Tufts University graduate student who was granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa. DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans,” the statement read. “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.”
Attorney Mahsa Khanbabai, Ozturk’s attorney, along with a representative for the Turkish consulate, spent Wednesday searching for answers about Ozturk’s location. When Khanbabai couldn’t find Ozturk, she filed an emergency petition.
Sauter said he later told Khanbabai that communication would be possible after Ozturk arrived at the Louisiana Correctional facility and had gone through processing.
Sauter also said he worked “diligently” Wednesday afternoon and evening to make top officials with DHS aware of Ozturk’s attorney’s desire to speak with her. Ozturk and Khanbabai finally spoke Wednesday night around 9:45 p.m.
People who know Ozturk believe she was targeted for participating in pro-Palestine rallies on the campus of Tufts in 2024. She also wrote an op-ed demanding that Tufts acknowledge the Palestinian genocide and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Tufts University confirms she is a PhD student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
They’re asking that the US District Court assume jurisdiction over this matter and order that Ozturk not be transferred outside the District of Massachusetts, and declare that the detention violates the due process clause of the 5th Amendment.
They want top officials with DHS to show cause why the petition should not be granted within three days.
Tufts University said in a letter to the community that they had no prior knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with ICE before the event.
Tuft’s President Sunil Kumar announced a hotline to protect immigrants from ICE.
“We realize that tonight’s news will be distressing to some members of our community, particularly the members of our international community. We will continue to provide information, support, and resources in the days ahead as more details become available to us,” Kumar explained. “While we await further information, we want to remind the members of our community that the university has an established protocol for responding to government agents who arrive on campus (or off-campus) for an unannounced site visit. To activate that protocol, it is best to call the Tufts University Police Department at 617-627-3030 and inform the dispatcher, who will notify the appropriate university officials.”
Students rallied on behalf of Ozturk Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Powder House Square Park.
They said neighbors reported seeing unmarked cars surveilling the location for two days before grabbing Ozturk on the street.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s Office is investigating, calling Ozturk’s detention “disturbing.”
Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne also expressed her concern about Ozturk’s detention.
“I am deeply concerned to see a student with legal status detained for what appears to be the exercise of free speech,” Ballantyne said.
In the last week, ICE said immigration operations have resulted in 370 arrests in our area.
President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said Tuesday that more than 100 of the arrests were “collaterals” rather than wanted criminals.
According to the National Immigrant Justice Center, collateral arrests are done without warrants or probable cause.
Homan described the majority of people arrested during the operation as “significant criminals.”
Boston 25 News has reached out to ICE regarding the detainment of Ozturk.
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