Turkish students at Tufts University Detained, Sparking Public Outrage

A bystander's recording of a Turkish student currently pursuing a doctoral degree at Tufts University being detained by federal agents with no explanation. (Image Creds: AP)

This week, a student attending Tufts University was detained by ICE at an off-campus residence, with no initial explanation or reason. A video of this incident, recorded by a bystander, has been spread around the internet, leading to deep concern and views on this incident from citizens all over the United States. The video depicts a group of masked men, claiming they were members of the police force, but without any items of identification, detaining, cuffing, and forcing the graduate student into a vehicle. Many witnesses of this video claimed it was “gravely disturbing.”

“It looks like a kidnapping,” commented Michael Mathis, a 32-year-old software engineer whose surveillance camera captured the incident. “They’re covering their faces. They’re in unmarked vehicles.”

“She must be immediately released,” says United States Democratic Representative Ayanna Pressley. She further elaborates that the incident is a “horrifying violation of Rujmeysa’s constitutional rights to due process and free speech.

”Shocking as this event is, it’s not the first time that the Trump Administration has overstepped its legal abilities and detained students with legal status in the U.S.  

“Based on what we know, it is alarming that the deferral administration chose to ambush and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding individual because of her political views,” said Saudi Massachusetts Attorney General Andre Joy Campbell.

In Tuft University's newsletter, the Tufts Daily, Orturk was one of four students last March who wrote an op-ed criticizing the university’s response to its community union Senate regarding the war between Israel and Palestine. The op-ed demanded that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide and for the school to divest its funds in companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel. This year-old article is what many claim to be the reason for Orturk’s detainment.

In response to this incident, hundreds of people gathered in Somerville Park on Wednesday, demanding that Ozturk be freed.

“There is no distinction between undocumented immigrants, documented immigrants, green card… It’s going to be the citizens next, if you’re the wrong color, wear a hijab,” says Nazzaro, a former college administrator from Winchester, Massachusetts.