by Guy Page 

A Turkish woman detained in Somerville, MA for possible deportation for being a pro-Hamas campus activist is the subject of a federal Court hearing in Burlington beginning at noon today. Rumeysa Ozturk is currently being held at federal detention facility in Louisiana.

Mike Donoghue of Vermont News First is attending the hearing in the federal building on Pearl St. and Elmwood Avenue in Burlington. A news story is pending, probably for publication this afternoon.

According to federal documents, Ozturk has more than 10 lawyers, including several from both the Vermont and Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union. Ozturk’s supporters claim her free speech rights, as expressed in a letter to the Tufts University student newspaper, were violated when she was detained by federal authorities last month after writing a letter supporting Students for Justice in Palestine at Tufts University. She was moved through Vermont en route to a Louisiana detainment facility, according to media reports.

Ozturk was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in late March, and was eventually brought to the St. Albans ICE office, then flown out of state from Burlington International Airport, according to federal documents revealed in media reports.

At his press conference today, Gov. Phil Scott was asked whether Vermont could, or should, try to prevent federal authorities from using Vermont as a venue for processing students detained for speaking out in support of Palestinians and, the federal government says, terrorist group Hamas. Scott said he found the action deplorable.

“We should be ashamed that it has come to this level. This person should be allowed to do that. It [speaking out] is a constitutional right,” Scott said.

Scott noted that Sen. Leahy fought to have the office located in Vermont and that there’s not much the State of Vermont could do.

Federal authorities disagreed. “Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security,” said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin on her X page. At least 29 Americans died in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Ozturk co-authored a March 26 article in the Tufts Daily student newspaper that included the following:

“On March 4, the Tufts Community Union Senate passed 3 out of 4 resolutions demanding that the University acknowledge the Palestinian genocide, apologize for University President Sunil Kumar’s statements, disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel. These resolutions were the product of meaningful debate by the Senate and represent a sincere effort to hold Israel accountable for clear violations of international law. Credible accusations against Israel include accounts of deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausible genocide.”

According to Wikipedia, on March 27, 30-year old Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk was detained by 6 plainclothed agents of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts and driven off in an unmarked car. Reportedly, she was transported to an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detention center in Louisiana.

“Ozturk is a Turkish citizen who entered the USA on an F-1 student visa to study human development. She was responsible for co-authoring an article in The Tufts Daily, a student newspaper of Tufts University. The article criticized the university’s response to the pro-Palestinian movement and Israel’s alleged genocide in Gaza, it was written by four students and endorsed by 32 others. Öztürk’s fellow students believe that she was targeted for contributing to this article. After her detainment, ICE released a statement, accusing her of engaging in activities in support of Hamas. DHS later confirmed that her student visa was terminated,” Wikipedia states.

The following quotes from Homeland Security are excerpted from a Jewish News Syndicate article:

Ozturk was “granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa,” a senior spokesperson at the department told JNS. “A visa is a privilege not a right.” 

“Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated,” the spokesperson added. “This is common sense security.”

Ozturk’s arrest comes as the Trump administration seeks to detain and deport those on student visas partaking in “antisemitic, anti-American activity,” as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order to combat antisemitism.

“We are unaware of her whereabouts and have not been able to contact her,” her attorney stated. “No charges have been filed against Rumeysa to date that we are aware of.”

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ordered that Ozturk remain in the state without advance written notice from the government to the court. Someone with Ozturk’s name, who was born in Turkey, is in custody at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, La., per the ICE website.

Video circulating on social media appeared to show multiple plainclothes officers, some with badges displayed, arresting a woman in a white coat and pinkish head covering. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, posted a screenshot of the video.

Stop Antisemitism wrote that Ozturk, after graduating from Columbia University, “led pro-Hamas, violent antisemitic and anti-American events as a Ph.D. student at Tufts.”