Federal judge to hold hearing after Tufts University student detained by ICE, moved out of Mass.
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By Boston 25 News Staff
BOSTON — A federal judge in Boston on Thursday is slated to hold a hearing after a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkey was detained by immigration authorities last week and rushed out of Massachusetts.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was surrounded by six masked ICE agents as she walked along a street in Somerville on Tuesday, March 25, and taken into custody.
“We’re the police,” members of the group could be heard saying in a video of her arrest. A nearby man is also heard asking, “Why are you hiding your faces?”
Immigration Tufts Student Detained In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Immigration Tufts Student Detained In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Immigration Tufts Student Detained In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Immigration Tufts Student Detained In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Immigration Tufts Student Detained In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Immigration Tufts Student Detained In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Immigration Tufts Student Detained In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Immigration Tufts Student Detained In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Immigration Tufts Student Detained In this image taken from security camera video, Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., Tuesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Ozturk was taken to New Hampshire within an hour of her arrest, then Vermont, before she was put on a plane the next day and moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Basile, Louisiana.
In a filing earlier this week, the government claimed that Ozturk was moved out of Massachusetts before U.S. District Judge Denise Casper ordered authorities to keep her in the Bay State.
Lawyers for the Justice Department have argued that Judge Casper lacks jurisdiction to decide Ozturk’s case. They said the case should be dismissed or transferred to Louisiana and that any challenge belongs in the immigration court.
Ozturk’s lawyers have said her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process. They asked the judge to order that she be immediately returned to Massachusetts and released from custody.
Immigration-Tufts Student Detained This contributed photo shows Rumeysa Ozturk on an apple-picking trip in 2021. (AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)
Students at Tufts University continue to rally support for the Turkish national. They say she has a right to free speech and worry she’s being deported for an op-ed she co-authored, supporting Palestine.
Federal authorities have alleged that she engaged in activities supporting the terrorist group Hamas, and a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed the termination of Ozturk’s visa.
Ozturk is still being held in a Louisiana jail. She is expected to face an immigration judge on Monday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.