2 days ago
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The Trump administration’s attempt to deport a
Tufts University
PhD student accused of supporting Hamas has been blocked by a federal judge.
Rumeysa Ozturk
, a Turkish national pursuing her doctorate at Tufts, was arrested by ICE officers in Boston on Tuesday. The viral incident showed her visibly shocked as agents confiscated her phone dressed in plainclothes.
She was later transported to a facility in Louisiana.
However, US district court judge Denise Casper, appointed by former President Barack Obama, ruled that Ozturk cannot be deported while the court determines whether it has jurisdiction over her case. Court documents indicate that Judge Casper exercised her authority to “preserve existing conditions” while legal proceedings continue.
The department of homeland security alleged Ozturk of being a Hamas supporter but is yet to present any evidence to support the claim.
Ozturk’s name appeared in the Canary mission database, a pro-Israel activist group that tracks individuals it deems anti-Israel. The group labelled her as a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, New York Post reported.
On March 26, 2024, Ozturk co-authored an opinion piece in The Tufts Daily criticising university administrators for their handling of anti-Israel protests and calling for the institution to sever ties with companies linked to Israel.
Similar deportation attempts involving students from Georgetown University and Columbia University are currently being contested in federal courts in Virginia and New York.
