SOMERVILLE, Mass. (Diya TV) — Federal officials have arrested Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, and canceled her visa, claiming her involvement in activity related to the support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization.
Ozturk, 30, was stopped by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents on Tuesday night on her way to break her Ramadan fast with friends. Video shows masked men handcuffing her and grabbing her phone, acts neighbors said looked like a kidnapping.
The DHS reported that investigations uncovered Ozturk’s alleged support for Hamas, resulting in the revocation of her student visa. Concrete evidence for these allegations has not been made public. Ozturk’s lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, has filed a habeas corpus petition protesting the detention and requesting her release.
Tufts University spoke out in distress regarding the event, pointing out that the institution had not been consulted before the arrest and had nothing to do with the case. University authorities are pursuing more information actively and have provided legal aid to help Ozturk.
The arrest has attracted protests and backlash from community groups and activists who see it as an attack on free speech and academic freedom. Protests have been held calling for Ozturk’s release and deploring federal policies seen to target international students who engage in pro-Palestinian activism.
This is part of a larger trend under the present administration, which has been detaining and questioning foreign students who are politically active. There have been similar instances at universities like Columbia University and Brown University, which have raised questions about the implications for the rights of international students and the academic community in general.
To date, Ozturk is still detained at a Louisiana detention center. Court proceedings continue, and her supporters persist in calling for her release and defending the civil liberties of all students.
