Ambush arrest of Tufts student sparks new concerns about immigration crackdown
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Signage and flowers are placed on a tree next to where ICE agents apprehended Tuft University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk on March 27, 2025 in Somerville, Massachusetts. Photo: Scott Eisen/Getty Images
The arrest of a Tufts University student by hooded Homeland Security agents in plain clothes — caught on video on a suburban Boston street — is raising fresh questions about the Trump administration's aggressive crackdown on immigrants over the opinions they've expressed.
Why it matters: The administration's push to quickly scoop up, detain and deport college students with pro-Palestinian views has stunned civil libertarians, who say it violates American traditions of free speech and due process under the law.
- Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts, was arrested after co-authoring an opinion piece in the Tufts student newspaper that called for "the equal dignity and humanity of all people," including Palestinians.
The big picture: Ozturk's arrest comes amid other detentions of legal residents over speech, including the administration's threats to law firms that help immigrants.
- It also comes as the Trump administration has deported scores of immigrants as gang members based on their tattoos — though family and lawyers say some of the detainees' markings were merely images from Latino culture and sports.
Catch up quick: The video of Ozturk's arrest, which is circulating online, shows her being stopped by undercover federal agents while walking in Somerville, Mass.
- In the video, Ozturk, who is Muslim and wearing a hajib, is approached by federal agents in dark hoodies who confront her.
- A frightened Ozturk protests but is whisked away by the agents.
Zoom in: Ozturk, who was observing Ramadan, was on her way to meet with friends to break her fast, her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, tells Axios Boston's Steph Solis.
- Her arrest came a few days after a pro-Israel group called the Canary Mission flagged Ozturk to federal authorities for alleged anti-Israel activism, Salon reported.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Ozturk was "engaged in activities in support of Hamas," but didn't explain what those activities were.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records on Thursday showed that Ozturk already had been moved to an ICE detention facility in Basile, La.
State of play: Ozturk's arrest and the similar detention of Mahmoud Khalil, an organizer of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, appear to be part of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's "Catch and Revoke" program.
- The program focuses on students who protested against the war in Gaza and uses the Cold War-era Immigration Nationality Act of 1952 to deport immigrants whom the administration deems a security risk.
- "We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas," Rubio told reporters Thursday during a visit to Guyana.
- It's part of what the Trump administration calls its effort to fight antisemitism on college campuses — but that what critics say is really an effort to erode free speech and push a Christian nationalist agenda.
A senior State Department official called the demonstrators it's targeting "Hamasniks" — people the government claims have shown support for the terror group.
- More than 300 foreign students have had their student visas revoked in the three weeks "Catch and Revoke" has been in operation, the official said.
Yes, but: Some Jewish and immigrant advocates said the Trump administration's actions are doing more harm than good in fighting antisemitism.
- "Jewish safety is inextricably linked with inclusive democracy in which everyone's fundamental rights are protected," Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and a Tufts alum, said in a statement.
- "What happened to Rumeysa Ozturk is chilling. Taken off the street by masked agents in unmarked cars is something we associate with authoritarian regimes, not a country that claims to uphold the rule of law," said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America's Voice.
Between the lines: The arrests and lack of due process in other cases have some experts worried about the nation's trend toward fascism and authoritarianism under Trump.
- "There is a concern here that we may be moving in that direction in terms of fascist ideology if people are not afforded the rule of law," Anthony DiMaggio, author of "Rising Fascism in America: It Can Happen Here," tells Axios.
- So far, DiMaggio said most detained immigrants are fighting their cases in the federal court system.
- In the meantime, some Republicans are calling for federal judges who issue rulings against the Trump administration's wishes to be impeached.
- And this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), a Trump loyalist, floated the idea of Congress eliminating some federal courts.
