US judge blocks deportation of PhD student Ozturk, over 300 international students ordered to self-deport over pro-Palestine protests
A federal judge in Massachusetts ordered on Friday to block the deportation of a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, who was detained by U.S. immigration officials this week as she voiced support for Palestinians amid “Israel’s” war on Gaza.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken into custody by U.S. immigration authorities near her Massachusetts home on Tuesday, according to a video showing the arrest by masked federal agents. U.S. officials revoked her visa.
Without providing evidence, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has accused Ozturk of “engaging in activities in support of Hamas”, a common accusation directed at students and protesters speaking out against the occupation’s ongoing war on Gaza, which has claimed over 50,208 Palestinian lives.
Her arrest came a year after she co-authored an opinion piece in Tuft’s student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to “Israel” and to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”
It is noteworthy that “Israel” faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the besieged enclave.
A lawyer soon after sued to secure her release, and on Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union joined her legal defense team, filing a revised lawsuit saying her detention violates her rights to free speech and due process.
Despite a Tuesday night order requiring the PhD student and Fulbright Scholar to not be moved out of Massachusetts without 48 hours’ notice, she is now in Louisiana.
In Friday’s order, U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston said that to provide time to resolve whether her court retained jurisdiction over the case, she was barring Ozturk’s deportation temporarily.
She ordered the Trump administration to respond to Ozturk’s complaint by Tuesday.
Mahsa Khanbabai, a lawyer for Ozturk, called the decision “a first step in getting Rumeysa released and back home to Boston so she can continue her studies.”
US President Donald Trump’s administration has cited a seldom-invoked statute authorizing the secretary of state to revoke visas of noncitizens who could be considered a “threat” to foreign policy interests. Accordingly, he has pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters and accused them of supporting Hamas, being antisemitic and posing foreign policy hurdles.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration conflates their criticism of “Israel’s” war on Gaza and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for Hamas.
More than 300 international students in US universities have reportedly received emails asking them to self-deport for being involved in pro-Palestine protests.
Also in Louisiana, Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil remains behind bars until a U.S. judge decides whether the Palestinian activist should challenge his imprisonment in a federal court there or in New Jersey.
Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Khalil arrived in the U.S. on a student visa in 2022 and became a legal permanent resident last year.
The government has accused Khalil of not disclosing in his application that he was what it called a “member” of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency known as UNRWA. UNRWA and his lawyers said Khalil completed an unpaid internship at UNRWA’s New York office as part of his Columbia master’s degree program, which was listed on his application.
The Trump administration said Khalil and other international students are harming U.S. foreign policy interests, as they participated in protests that called for an end to the U.S. government’s military support of the Zionist entity.
