BOSTON — Democrats in Congress are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to release a Tufts PhD student from ICE custody and restore her visa.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is leading the charge, along with 27 others, who are calling for full due process in the detainment case and want answers about the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy that led to Rumeysa Ozturk’s arrest while having valid legal status.
Federal agents surrounded the Turkish national in the street near her off-campus apartment in Somerville around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Once close to her, the agents appeared to pull out badges from around their necks and pull up face masks.
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Neighbors reported seeing unmarked cars surveilling the location for two days before detaining Ozturk.
Warren, in a letter penned to the DHS, called the arrest of Ozturk “deeply disturbing” and said it “appears to be one of the latest examples in a string of ICE arrests of university students with valid green cards and visas because of their political views.”
Warren also pointed out in the letter that for almost 24 hours after Ozturk’s arrest, her location was unknown.
Assistant US Attorney Mark Sauter confirmed Thursday that Ozturk is at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and that Ozturk and her attorney were able to speak late Wednesday night.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani previously granted the request of Ozturk’s attorney that she not be moved out of state, but Sauter said she was already out of Massachusetts by the time that petition had been filed and granted.
Judge Talwani has issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Ozturk was being detained. The 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.
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.
Warren is asking several questions of DHS, including:
- Why did DHS officials arrest Ozturk?
- Secretary Rubio indicated that Ozturk’s student visa was revoked. What was the legal authority under which her visa was terminated?
- Has the State Department updated its policy governing visa revocations?
- When Administration officials indicated that Ozturk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” which specific activities were they referring to?
- Why did DHS transport Ozturk to Louisiana?
- What is DHS/ICE’s policy regarding the use of unmarked vehicles, face coverings, plain clothing, and the display of badges by DHS agents during arrests?
- Please provide the date and time when Ozturk was first permitted to contact an attorney, family member, or other outside contact.
- The South Louisiana ICE Processing Center has been the subject of health-related complaints, including for denying food that appropriately accommodates detainees’ religious views, serving undrinkable water, and not complying with protocols on the spread of infectious diseases. Given that Ozturk is currently fasting for Ramadan and has asthma, how are her health needs being met while she remains in detention, and is Ozturk being offered a prayer room and Halal food?
- Is DHS or any other agency compiling a dossier of university students involved in Palestine-related protests?
- What are the ICE Student Exchange and Visitor Program policies for terminating a student without a request by a university?
- Please provide a copy of all notices to appear in immigration court in Ozturk’s case.
Warren indicated that she wants federal officials to answer these questions by April 4, 2025.
“These are deeply troubling incidents. The Administration should not summarily detain and deport legal residents of this country merely for expressing their political views,” Warren said. “Absent compelling evidence justifying her detention and the revocation of her status, we call for Ozturk’s release and the restoration of her visa.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke about the detainment of Ozturk.
“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us the reason you are coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio said.
Rubio said his department may have revoked more than 300 visas.
“If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States, and with that visa, participate in that sort of activity, we’re going to take away your visa. And once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States,” he added. “And we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country. So, it’s just that simple.”
Rubio continued, “The overwhelming majority of student visas in this country will not be revoked. If the overwhelming majority of people coming to this country to study are not involved in, associated, or aligned with organizations that seek to do damage to this country and that, frankly, organizations that hate the United States government, hate our way of life. So I just think it’s crazy to continue to provide visas so people can come here and advocate for policies that are in direct contradiction of our national interests.”
Warren’s letter was also signed by other members of the Massachusetts delegation, including Ed Markey, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, Lori Trahan, Ayanna Pressley, Katherine Clark, James McGovern, and Jake Auchincloss.
Read the full letter below:
Warren Letter on Ozturk by Boston 25 Desk on Scribd
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