A Tufts University international graduate student was taken into custody by federal authorities in Massachusetts Tuesday evening, according to the school and her attorney.
In an email to campus, Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said the student, identified by her lawyer as Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, was apprehended “outside an off-campus apartment building in Somerville.”
Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk detained
Her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, told WBZ-TV in an email that Ozturk “was maintaining valid F-1 status as a PhD student at Tufts” when she was detained by Department of Homeland Security agents near her home as she “was heading to meet with friends to break her Ramadan fast.”
“We are unaware of her whereabouts and have not been able to contact her. No charges have been filed against Rumeysa to date that we are aware of. I filed a habeas petition requesting that she not be moved out of the District of MA which was granted by Judge Talwani last night. We hope Rumeysa will be released immediately,” Khanbabai said.
Tufts student visa “terminated”
Kumar said the university was told the student’s visa status “has been terminated” and that they’re looking for more information on what happened.
“The university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event, and the location where this took place is not affiliated with Tufts University,” Kumar said in the email.
“The university has no additional information at this time about the cause or circumstances of the student’s apprehension and is attempting to learn more about the incident.”
The president said Tufts has an “established protocol for responding to government agents who arrive on campus (or off-campus), for an unannounced site visit” and that starts with a call to campus police.
WBZ reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for comment but has not heard back from the agency.
The Boston office of the FBI told WBZ Wednesday that “It’s an ICE matter.”
“A very bad thing”
Governor Maura Healey said Massachusetts has “hundreds of thousands of students who come from other countries every year.”
“People want to come and study here, so I’m very concerned that actions by the Trump administration to signal to students in other countries – don’t come to Massachusetts – that’s a very bad thing,” she told reporters Wednesday when asked about the incident. “It’s a bad thing for science, it’s a bad thing for research. It’s a very bad thing for the economy if foreign students are afraid to come and study and live here and contribute.”
“There’s a reason why Massachusetts has a disproportionate number of Nobel Prize winners. It’s because people come from all over the world to study here,” Healey said.
Rally for Tufts student in Somerville
“Those who wish to support Rumeysa are welcome to attend a rally this evening in Somerville,” her attorney said. It’s scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Powder House Square Park.
Somerville is one of the communities in Massachusetts that have designated themselves as sanctuary cities. Massachusetts law does not allow law enforcement to hold someone for just their immigration status.
“Border czar” in Massachusetts
Earlier this week, President Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan said he visited Boston recently as ICE arrested 370 people in Massachusetts, who are allegedly in the U.S. illegally.
On Tuesday, Homan said some of those arrested were “collaterals,” but that “the majority” of those apprehended were criminals that included murderers, child rapists and drug traffickers.