BOSTON — Attorneys for the Tufts PhD student detained by ICE earlier this week have filed a new complaint in federal court in Boston.
Rumeysa Ozturk’s attorneys want her released and want the court to assume jurisdiction over this matter.
Their complaint, aimed at President Donald Trump and top officials with the Department of Homeland Security, argues that Ozturk has not been charged with any crime.
They are asking that DHS return Ozturk to Massachusetts, restore her student visa, and vacate and set aside DHS’s “unlawful policy of removal” based on protected speech advocating for Palestinian rights.
Ozturk was detained near her off-campus home in Somerville on Tuesday and was rushed away to Louisiana.
In the new complaint, her attorneys said the arrest and detention were designed to punish her speech and chill the speech of others.
They go on to say Ozturk’s detention “part of a concerted and systemic effort” by Trump administration officials to “punish students and others who have identified with pro-Palestine activism.”
Attorneys for Ozturk call her continued detention unlawful because it violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and 27 other democratic members of Congress are also calling on DHS to release Ozturk and restore her visa.
They are questioning ICE’s policy that led to her arrest.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the overwhelming majority of student visas will not be revoked if the people coming to study are not involved or aligned with organizations that seek to do damage in this country.
“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,” Rubio said.
On Wednesday, a judge granted the request of Ozturk’s attorney that she not be moved out of state.
But Assistant US Attorney Mark Sauter said Ozturk was already out of Massachusetts by the time that petition had been filed and granted.
The US Attorney’s office is expected to respond to the petition.
They said they would set forth the timeline for Ozturk’s arrest and transfer from Massachusetts in further detail once they respond to the petition the judge granted.
It also appears that attorneys for the ACLU have joined the case to represent Ozturk.
Ozturk is expected to appear in front of a judge at the South Louisiana Correctional Center on Monday, April 7.
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