International Students Across the Country Detained
On March 25, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was walking down the sidewalk near her home in Somerville, MA, when she was suddenly arrested.
By the time Ozturk’s lawyer made it to court and obtained a judge order to ensure she was kept in state, she was already in an ICE detention center in Louisiana.
Ozturk was pursuing her doctorate at Tufts under a student visa, which, unbeknownst to her, was recently revoked. When asked what warranted the revocation, the Federal Government stated that Ozturk had “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.” Last spring, Ozturk was a co-author for a student-run newspaper that urged Tufts to cut ties with Israel.
Ozturk’s case is one that many international students across the country are now facing after speaking out against Israel and its military actions. These cases seem to be a result of President Trump’s promise to deport students who promote “terrorism” and “anti-Americanism” while studying at US schools.
On March 9, Mahmoud Khalil, a student at Columbia University, was detained under similar premises. Kahlil is an avid activist known for his work during pro-Palestine protests at Columbia last spring. The federal government claims his status as a US resident is in question for his involvement because the protests were “activities aligned to Hamas.”
Kalil is a legal permanent resident with a green card he received after marrying his wife, a US citizen. He is now facing the prospect of deportation and is being detained by ICE in Louisiana.
Ozturk and Kahlil are two of many students recently detained due to their immigration statuses being revoked or put into question. A University of Alabama student named Alireza Doroudi was removed from his Tuscaloosa apartment in the middle of the night by US Immigration Services.
Only days later, ICE also detained and removed a student from the University of Minnesota. The charges these students face and the legal process surrounding them are unclear. These cases have caused a flurry of protests and online discourse across the country, with thousands calling for the immediate release of these students.
