Turkish student detained in US over Gaza war released
- Last updated: May 11, 2025 | 21:01
A Tufts University student from Turkey returned to Boston on Saturday, one day after being released from a Louisiana immigration detention centre where she was held for over six weeks.
Upon arrival at Logan Airport, Rumeysa Ozturk told reporters she was excited to get back to her studies during what has been a "very difficult" period.
"In the last 45 days, I lost both my freedom and also my education during a crucial time for my doctoral studies," she said. "But I am so grateful for all the support, kindness and care." 'I have faith in American justice'
A federal judge ordered Ozturk's release on Friday pending a final decision on her claim that she was illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticising her university's response to Israel and the war in Gaza. Ozturk said she will continue her case in the courts, adding, "I have faith in the American system of justice."
She was joined by her lawyers and two of Massachusetts' Democratic members of Congress, Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley. "Today is a tremendous day as we welcome you back, Rumeysa," Markey said. "You have made millions and millions of people across our country so proud of the way you have fought."
She's not a danger or flight risk, says judge
Appearing by video for her bail hearing the previous day, Ozturk, 30, detailed her growing asthma attacks in detention and her desire to finish her doctorate focusing on children and social media.
US District Judge William Sessions in Vermont ruled that she was to be released on her own recognisance with no travel restrictions. She was not a danger to the community or a flight risk, he said, while noting that he might amend the release order to consider any conditions by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in consultation with her lawyers.
Sessions said the government offered no evidence for why Ozturk was arrested other than the op-ed. The US Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review did not respond to an email message seeking comment on Friday afternoon. Ozturk was one of four students who wrote the opinion piece last year in campus newspaper The Tufts Daily.
It criticised the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide," disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
On March 25 immigration officials surrounded Ozturk in Massachusetts and took her into custody. She was then driven to New Hampshire and Vermont and flown to a detention centre in Basile, Louisiana. Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said.
Ozturk's lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont.
Associated Press