More than a thousand people gathered at Powder House Square near the Tufts University campus Wednesday evening to protest the arrest and possible deportation of graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk.
Ozturk was and is now being held in a U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana. A federal judge had ordered federal officials not to move Ozturk from Massachusetts without notification, but it鈥檚 unclear whether she was moved before the order was issued.
Ozturk is a Turkish national and had a valid F-1 visa to study in the U.S., according to her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai.
A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said a federal investigation found Ozturk 鈥渆ngaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization,鈥� but did not provide any evidence to support that claim.
Ozturk鈥檚 name appeared on the byline of an opinion piece critical of the school鈥檚 response to students demanding an end to the university鈥檚 relationship with companies tied to Israel. It鈥檚 not clear whether that op-ed played a role in the decision to arrest her.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e literally black bagging people on our streets in our city, and it鈥檚 unacceptable,鈥� said Boston University history student Alastair Holman, who attended the rally at Tufts.
鈥淲e鈥檙e creating a society of fear, this is completely 鈥� it鈥檚 illegal,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese people can鈥檛 come into our communities and just arbitrarily arrest people who were here legally, on visas. Like, it鈥檚 insanity. I don鈥檛 even know how to put it into words.鈥�
Amitra Dani, a public school teacher in Boston, said the Trump administration was making good on its threats to make an example of pro-Palestinian protesters.
鈥淸Trump] said it during his campaign, and he鈥檚 made it a key part of his platform to attack immigrants and attack immigrant students,鈥� she said. 鈥淎s a teacher, I鈥檝e seen the way those attacks and those threats really create a climate of fear, even with my students.鈥�
Fatema Ahmad, executive director of the Muslim Justice League, said people should not be surprised by Ozturk鈥檚 arrest.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really important for people who are surprised by this to know that people are being disappeared every day, like on their way to work, dropping off their kids, trying to go to work and so on,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been going on for quite some time, too. It鈥檚 obviously escalated in this moment, but it has been going on for quite some time.鈥�
She said that immigration law as written allows for too many 鈥渓oopholes鈥� that allow officials to deport people based on accusations.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen with Mahmoud Khalil鈥檚 case, in immigration law, Marco Rubio gets to say that this person is somehow a threat to our foreign policy, our national security, and revoke somebody鈥檚 status,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hese things have been built in so that government can use it against people in the way that we鈥檙e seeing really escalated right now.鈥�
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