By Janet Ekstract, NEW YORK – On May 9, Tufts University Turkish doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk was finally released from a Louisiana immigrant detention center which was over six weeks after she was arrested on the street near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts. Ozturk was ordered released by U.S. District Judge William Sessions, pending a final decision on her claim that she was illegally detained. Her attorney Mahsa Khanbabai told the press: “Despite an 11th hour attempt to delay her freedom by trying to force her to wear an ankle monitor, Rumeysa is now free and is excited to return home, free of monitoring or restriction.” Meanwhile, The Legal Director of ACLU Massachusetts Jessie Rossman commented to reporters: “What we heard from the court today is what we have been saying for weeks, and what courts have continued to repreat up and down through the litigation of this case, thus far” adding “There’s absolutely no evidence that justified detaining Ozturk for a single day, let alone the sixa and a half weeks that she has been detained because she wrote a single op-ed in her student newspaper, exercising her First Amendment right to express an opinion.”
On Friday, Ozturk had appeared via video for her bail hearing from the Louisiana detention facility where she told the judge that “Completing my Ph.D. is very important to me.” She also explained to the court about her increasing asthma attacks in detention and her desire to continue her education in the U.S. Ozturk had legal visa status to study in the U.S. before U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked her visa. Sessions said that Ozturk is being released with no travel restrictions, stating that she is not a danger to the community or a flight risk. He did add that he could amend his release order to consider any specific conditions by ICE in consultation with her lawyers. In his ruling, Sessions said the Trump administration had provided no evidence about why Ozturk was arrested other than the op-ed and said “This is a woman who is just totally committed to her academic career,” adding “This is someone who probably doesn’t have a whole lot of other things going on other than reaching out to other members of the community in a caring and compassionate way.” Sessions mentioned that Ozturk had voiced serious concerns about her First Amendment and due process rights and her health. Ozturk testified on May 9 that she already had 12 asthma attacks since her detention, one that was severe at the Atlanta airport.
Ozturk’s attorney said that she was never informed that her student visa had been revoked and that the manner in which she was detained by plainclothes immigration officials without warning or her knowledge. Her lawyers had no idea about her whereabouts for more than 24 hours after she was taken into custody by ICE and were unable to speak with her during that time. Ironically, Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the Tufts University campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily in 2024 that criticized the university’s response to student activists demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel. On Friday, Ozturk said if she is released, Tufts will offer her housing and her lawyers and friends would drive her to future court hearings, she is expected to return to Massachusetts on Saturday. Ozturk’s attorney Khanbabai said: “When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?” Khanbabai added: “I am thankful that the courts have been ruling in favor of detained political prisoners like Rumeysa.”
Meanwhile, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc lauded Ozturk’s release, calling it a “positive development that relieves the public conscience.” As Tunc said: “The fact that our sister Rumeysa will regain her freedom is extremely important in terms of fundamental human rights and freedom of expression.” Tunc also commented that Rumeysa’s experience demonstrates how unacceptable it is to prosecute someone for their faith and support for Palestine, adding “Practices incompatible with democratic values, discrimination, marginalization, Islamophobia and double standards such as the injustice suffered by our sister Rumeysa should never be tolerated.” He said that the Justice Ministry in Turkiye actively supported Rumeysa diplomatically and legally from the start of the process with staff personally following the hearings. Ozturk’s visa was revoked the U.S. State Department said, following an assessment that her actions “may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization including co-authoring an op-ed that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus.” So far, the U.S. government has presented no concrete evidence that Ozturk is guilty of anything, based on the State Department’s statement.
