BOSTON — The Tufts University PhD student who was detained by immigration authorities last week and rushed out of Massachusetts released her first statement on Thursday.
30-year-old Rumeysa Ozturk was surrounded by six masked ICE agents as she walked along a street in Somerville on Tuesday, March 25, and taken into custody.
In less than 24 hours, she was transported from Massachusetts, to New Hampshire, to Vermont, down to Basile, Louisiana, where she currently remains.
[ New court filings detail timeline of Tufts student who was detained by ICE, sent to Louisiana ]
Federal authorities say she engaged in activities supporting the terrorist group, Hamas, and revoked her visa.
Ozturk’s attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Immigration Law read a statement from her outside of Moakley Federal Courthouse on Thursday.
“My life is committed to choosing peaceful and inclusive ways to meet the needs of children,” the statement read. “I believe the world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room.”
Ozturk’s lawyers are now fighting to get her back to the Bay State.
On Thursday, defense attorneys and the feds clashed over where future proceedings in this case should happen. Ozturk also had a crowd of supporters protesting outside of federal court in Boston.
“This is horrifying not only for the international community in the U.S., but for the international community abroad as well,” said Reyyan Bilge, an assistant teaching professor of psychology at Northeastern University. “If some random guy on the street was not recording her. She would have been gone for a couple of days and we wouldn’t know where she was and that’s really creepy.”
Ozturk’s attorneys and the ACLU argued that her ambush style detainment and secretive shuffling to four locations violates her constitutional rights.
“Over the course of one night, [ICE] proceeded to quickly and quietly transfer her to three different locations in three different states before flying her in an early morning flight to an ICE detention facility halfway across the country,” Jessie Rossman of the ACLU of Massachusetts said.
Nearly two dozen of Ozturk’s colleagues and Tufts University submitted letters to the court backing a request to return her to Massachusetts immediately.
An attorney with the United States Department of Justice argued that federal authorities did not intend to manipulate jurisdiction by transporting her across the country, claiming there was no room for her in New England facilities.
A judge has yet to make a decision on where future proceedings will happen.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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