Headline Roundup • March 27th, 2025
Tufts PhD Student Detained by DHS
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national and PhD student at Tufts University, was detained by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents on Tuesday.
The Details: Ozturk was taken into federal custody on the sidewalk outside her apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts. Despite a court order that she should not be removed from Massachusetts for at least 48 hours, she was transferred to a federal detention facility in Louisiana. Her lawyer said she could not contact Ozturk and was unaware of her whereabouts for 24 hours. Her visa status has been terminated, according to a DHS official.
For Context: Ozturk has publicly supported the pro-Palestinian movement and criticized the Tufts administration in an op-ed after the Tufts Senate passed resolutions about the “Palestinian genocide.” The DHS alleged Ozturk was engaged in “activities in support of Hamas.” Ozturk's arrest comes amid a broader Trump administration crackdown on immigrants who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses. Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian PhD student at the University of Alabama, was similarly taken into the custody of federal immigration officials at his home on Tuesday morning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said visa holders are “visitors” and “don’t have a right to be in the United States,” justifying their detainment.
How The Media Covered It: The Boston Globe (Left bias) focused on Ozturk's lawyer's view and emphasized the details of the arrest, such as the unmarked van with tinted windows and the masked agents. The Globe emphasized Ozturk's character by quoting former classmates and teachers, who said she was kind and soft-spoken. The Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) quoted Rubio, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, and Tufts University President Sunil Kumar but did not quote Ozturk's lawyer, splitting from most outlets on the left.
Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Photo: brian snyder/Reuters
Federal immigration authorities detained a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, adding to the list of international students targeted by the Trump administration.
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Ph.D. student, was taken into custody Tuesday night outside her off-campus apartment building in Somerville, Mass., according to Tufts and court records. She was on her way to meet friends and break her fast for Ramadan when she was detained, her lawyer said.
The Department of Homeland Security detained a Turkish Tufts University student Tuesday for allegedly engaging in “activities in support of Hamas.”
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was stopped on the street by DHS agents in plain clothes, and her arrest was captured on a street security camera.
Her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, has filed a habeas petition in Massachusetts federal court for Ozturk to be released from detention. The student, Rumeysa Ozturk, is student at the Tufts’s doctoral program for Child Study and Human Development, according to her LinkedIn, and graduated with a master’s degree from the Teachers College at Columbia University. Federal immigration authorities late Tuesday detained a Tufts PhD student who is a Turkish national, her attorney and community activists said. In a statement provided through her attorney, community activists said that Ozturk was “ambushed” by...
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