Tufts University declares support for detained Turkish student during court hearing
Tufts University has thrown its weight behind the legal case for Rumeysa Ozturk, demanding her immediate release so she can finish her studies, making Tufts the first university to have done so in the wake of students being detained and arrested by US federal immigration agents over pro-Palestine activism.
In a declaration heard on Thursday at the US District Court for Massachusetts, university president Sunil Kumar said that Tufts "seeks relief so that Ms Ozturk is released without delay so that she can return to complete her studies and finish her degree".
Kumar's statement constituted part of an amended petition submitted to the court.
Providing background information, he said, “With her (Ozturk’s) consent, the university can confirm that Ms Ozturk is a third-year doctoral student in good academic and administrative standing….She is described by her faculty as a hard-working student dedicated to her studies and the Tufts community.”
Kumar added the university “has no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention”.
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The declaration stated that there has been an outpouring of community support for Ozturk.
"These individuals have described Ms Ozturk as a valued member of the community, dedicated to her academic pursuits and committed to her colleagues.”
Kumar confirmed that Ozturk was one of several authors of an opinion piece in the student newspaper, The Tufts Daily, published on 26 March 2024, entitled, “Try again, President Kumar: Renewing Calls for Tufts to Adopt March 4 TCU Senate resolutions”.
The opinion piece has been cited as a potential reason for her targeting since she hasn't taken part in any pro-Palestinian protests, but Kumar said the article didn't violate any policies.
“The University declares that this opinion piece was not in violation of any Tufts policies. Further, no complaints were filed with the University or, to our knowledge, outside of the University about this op-ed. The University maintains that the op-ed was consistent with speech permitted by the Declaration on Freedom of Expression adopted by our trustees on November 7, 2009."
He added that the university had no information suggesting that she violated its understanding of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.
The declaration states that Tufts University has sponsored more than 1,800 people on F-1 visas and that the international student community was living in fear.
“The University has heard from students, faculty and staff who are forgoing opportunities to speak at international conferences and avoiding or postponing international travel. In the worst cases, many report being fearful of leaving their homes, even to attend and teach classes on campus."
Jurisdictional battle
Lawyers for Ozturk have argued that her case should be handled by the federal court in Massachusetts or in Vermont - where she was being detained at the time her judges filed her habeas petition - while US government attorneys said it should be dismissed and go before an immigration judge.
Department of Justice lawyers argued that Ozturk had been moved to Vermont by the time US District Judge Denise Casper in Boston ordered authorities to keep her in Massachusetts and that there was no available “bed space” for her to stay in New England.
They said Ozturk’s lawyers had to file her original petition in Vermont, the jurisdiction where she was confined at the time of the filing, or in Louisiana, where she was being held when they amended their petition.
“Place of confinement cannot be swept away as a long-standing rule,” assistant US attorney Mark Sauter told judge Denise Casper.
But Ozturk’s lawyers said at the time they filed the petition, they had no way of knowing where she was. They also noted the petition was filed while Ozturk was in a vehicle within the control of Massachusetts-based Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, making the Boston court the appropriate venue.
Ozturk’s lawyers said that if the judge disagreed, then the case should be moved to Vermont. They said the detention violates Ozturk’s constitutional rights, including free speech and due process. They’ve asked the judge to order that she be immediately returned to Massachusetts and released from custody.
The case was adjourned after it was heard to allow Casper to make a decision.
Who is Rumeysa Ozturk?
Rumeysa Ozturk is a 30-year-old Turkish national on a student visa in the US currently being held at the South Louisiana Processing Center.
She was detained by ICE agents on 25 March, who approached and physically restrained the Tufts University doctoral student and research assistant in Massachusetts.
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have said she was detained for "supporting" Hamas but have not publicly provided evidence for their allegations, and she has not been charged with any crime.
Ozturk was enrolled at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University. She holds a master’s from Columbia University’s Teachers College and graduated from the developmental psychology programme with a focus on children’s media in 2020.
She is a grantee of the prestigious Fulbright Scholar programme, which aims to increase mutual understanding between Americans and other people around the world.
Friends of Ozturk believe she may have been targeted because of a doxxing campaign for co-authoring a March 2024 opinion article in the university newspaper, Tufts Daily.
Ozturk’s photo and other identifying information were posted on Canary Mission in February. Canary Mission is a website that documents individuals and organisations it considers to be "antisemitic". Critics say the website's mission is to "demonise" and "dox" pro-Palestinian students and suppress criticism of Israel.
President Donald Trump has pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters and has accused them of antisemitism, supporting Hamas, and being a threat to national security.
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