All out to free Rumeysa!
This is a developing story.
By Henry De Groot
SOMERVILLE, MA – Tufts University PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tuesday evening.
According to Ozturk’s attorney, sources report, Ozturk has a valid F-1 visa and was returning home to meet with friends and break her Ramadan fast when she was detained by federal agents, near Electric Avenue and Mason Street in Somerville, just a block away from Tuft’s campus in Medford. Some reports indicate that agents had been circling her neighborhood in unmarked vehicles for several days.
The university administration reports they were told that Ozturk’s visa has been terminated. They shared the following statement:
In March of 2024, Ozturk was one of four authors of an Op-Ed in the The Tufts Daily, the school’s student newspaper, titled “Try again, President Kumar: Renewing calls for Tufts to adopt March 4 TCU Senate resolutions.” The article called on the universities’ administration to implement the anti-genocide resolutions adopted by the Tufts Community Union Senate, a body of the student government.
Ozturk is a member of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local 509. Union members reported to Working Mass that the local’s higher-ed members are organizing turnout to the rally this evening.
Her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, has filed a petition of habeas corpus in Massachusetts federal court for her to be released. US District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued a 3 page ruling that Ozturk was not to be moved out of the state without prior notice.
The action comes as ICE reports that it arrested 370 migrants across Massachusetts after a multi-day raid.
This detention is just the latest in a series of actions targeting university students, workers, and faculty as Trump carries out his election promise to deport foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian and anti-war efforts.
Ozturk was listed by the right-wing doxing website Canary Mission, which targets pro-Palestinian activists back in February 2025. The site had screenshotted her March 4 article.
Activists are calling for an emergency demonstration at 5:30 p.m. at Powder House Square Park.
Henry De Groot is the managing editor of Working Mass.
