Tufts University declares support for student detained by ICE, seeks immediate release

Tufts University has issued a declaration of support for international graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security last week. 

Ozturk was apprehended outside her off-campus apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts on March 25 while she was on her way to a Ramadan iftar dinner. She was walking on the sidewalk when masked agents took her into custody and put her in an unmarked vehicle. 

In court documents filed on Ozturk’s behalf, Tufts University President Sunil Kumar asked for the Turkish student’s release without delay so she can return to complete her studies and finish her degree. 

Tufts student’s visa revoked

Court documents indicate the State Department revoked Ozturk’s student visa on March 21 on grounds of alleged involvement in activities supporting Hamas. However, the university said at the time of her detention, Ozturk was in “good immigration standing.” 

Kumar said that evening, Tufts University police received a courtesy notification from Somerville police that an individual detained by federal authorities might be a Tufts student. It was confirmed through records that it was Ozturk. 

About an hour later, Ozturk’s record in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System was updated to note her visa was terminated, according to Kumar. 

“Prior to that, and at the time of her detention, Ms. Ozturk was in ‘good immigration standing’ according to her record in SEVIS, and both Ms. Ozturk and Tufts had followed the governing regulations for students on visas,” the statement from Kumar said. 

The university received a notice via email the next morning, March 26, that Ozturk’s visa was canceled because she was a “non-immigrant status violator.” 

After she was taken into custody, a DHS spokesperson said, “investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” but did not provide evidence. 

“No information to support allegations”

Ozturk, a third-year doctoral student, was one of several authors of a March 2024 op-ed that urged Tufts to acknowledge the Palestinian genocide. Kumar said the opinion piece was not in violation of any Tufts policies and no complaints were made about it.

“The University has no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention,” Kumar wrote. 

According to court documents, federal officials say Ozturk was transferred to an ICE detention center in Central Louisiana because there was no room for her in any facility closer to Boston. 

Kumar said the university has heard from students, faculty and staff who are fearful of leaving their homes to attend classes on campus.