Tufts international student to resume studies after ICE detention
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Rümeysa Öztürk addresses reporters shortly after arriving at Logan Airport in Boston. Photo: Steph Solis/Axios
Rümeysa Öztürk returned to Massachusetts Saturday as a free woman with her student visa restored.
- It was the international student's first time back after six weeks in a Louisiana detention center.
Why it matters: Öztürk's attorneys hailed her release from a Louisiana detention center as a victory for visa holders who have been targeted by the Trump administration for political speech.
Catch up quick: Öztürk, a Turkish national, left the detention center Friday after a federal judge in Vermont ordered her release as her lawsuit against the Trump administration continues.
- A doctoral candidate at Tufts University, Öztürk had been living in Somerville under a student visa when she was arrested by federal agents in late March.
What they're saying: "This has been a very difficult time for me, for my community, my community at Tufts and Turkey, but I am so grateful for all the support," Öztürk told reporters Saturday night at Logan Airport in East Boston.
- She asked the public to not forget about the women who remain detained in Louisiana.
- U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, who visited Öztürk in detention with U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, said he encountered detainees there who didn't know what charges they faced.
Zoom out: Öztürk is among a handful of international students and graduates who were arrested for pro-Palestinian speech — in her case, an op-ed in The Tufts Daily.
- The Department of Justice accused her of being "engaged in activities in support of Hamas," but Trump attorneys fighting her lawsuit never submitted evidence in federal court of pro-Hamas activity. She was never criminally charged.
- Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student who was detained during a U.S. naturalization interview, was released last month after fighting his detainment in federal court.
- Others self-deported or were removed without a court hearing.
Threat level: The White House is considering suspending habeas corpus — the writ that enshrines due process protections referenced in lawsuits like Öztürk's.
- The Constitution allows for the suspension of habeas corpus "when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."
- Trump has tried to frame illegal immigration as an "invasion of the U.S."
Jessie Rossman, one of the attorneys representing Öztürk, said those protections are "core to who we are as a country" and that she and others nationwide will ensure "that we continue to fight for that right."
The other side: Stephen Miller, President Trump's top policy adviser, said, "The courts aren't just at war with the executive branch. The courts are at war, these radical rogue judges, with the legislative branch as well too."
- "All of that will inform the choice that the president ultimately makes."
What's next: Öztürk said she will resume her studies as her immigration case and federal lawsuit continue.