A federal judge in Massachusetts has temporarily halted the deportation of Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University who was detained by US immigration officials after expressing support for Palestinians amid Israel’s Gaza war.
Ozturk was forcibly taken into custody by masked federal agents near her Massachusetts home on Tuesday, with immigration authorities also revoking her visa.
On Friday, US District Court Judge Denise Casper ordered the government to respond to an updated complaint from Ozturk’s legal team by Tuesday evening. “To allow the Court’s resolution of its jurisdiction to decide the petition, Ozturk shall not be removed from the United States until further order of this court,” the judge wrote.
Ozturk’s arrest occurred one year after she co-authored an opinion piece in Tufts’ student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to student calls for divestment from companies with Israeli ties and to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.” According to friends, she had not been significantly involved in pro-Palestinian protests beyond this writing.
A lawyer promptly sued for her release, and on Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union joined her defense team, filing a revised lawsuit arguing that her detention violates her constitutional rights to free speech and due process.
On Saturday, Oncu Keceli from Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that efforts to secure Ozturk’s release were ongoing, with consular and legal support being provided by Turkish diplomatic missions in the US. “Our Houston Consul General visited our citizen in the center where she is being held in Louisiana on March 28. Our citizen’s requests and demands have been forwarded to local authorities and her lawyer,” Keceli posted on X.
President Donald Trump has vowed to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters, claiming without evidence that they support Hamas, promote anti-Semitism, and create foreign policy challenges.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, counter that the Trump administration wrongly equates their criticism of Israel’s Gaza offensive and advocacy for Palestinian rights with anti-Semitism and Hamas support.
The administration reports it may have revoked more than 300 visas of students and protesters.
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