Students, union leaders, officials rally for detained Tufts student

Local News

Mayor Michelle Wu and Attorney General Andrea Campbell joined speakers at Tuesday’s rally in support of detained Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk.

Students, union leaders, and city officials gathered in downtown Boston Tuesday to rally in support of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts graduate student who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Somerville last week.

Mayor Michelle Wu and Attorney General Andrea Campbell were among the speakers who denounced the Trump administration’s crackdown on visa holders with connections to pro-Palestine protests.

The rally was led by SEIU Local 509 President Dave Foley and SEIU International President April Verrett. Öztürk is a member of SEIU Local 509 through the Tufts Grad Workers Union.

“We worked tirelessly to put this together on short notice with the sole purpose of demanding the freedom of Rümeysa, who’s in detention right now illegally,” Foley told Boston.com. “This is a travesty that this is happening.”

By 6 p.m. Tuesday, a crowd of more than 100 protesters had formed outside the JFK Federal Building on Sudbury Street. Protesters and labor union members carried signs with messages such as “protect students,” “labor against fascism,” and “ICE out of our neighborhoods.”

“I’m glad to see folks inside SEIU organizing in solidarity with their sibling,” Ryan Black, a protester with the Boston Democratic Socialists of America, told Boston.com. “We all need to be fighting within our workplaces and communities to reverse this before things get even worse.”

Foley introduced the rally’s speakers, starting with Verrett, who called Öztürk “our family” and rallied the crowd not to “give in to the fear of fascism.”

“Where I grew up, we never ever leave family behind, do we?” Verrett said in her speech. “We are going to make sure she feels this energy, she feels this love all the way to where she is in Louisiana.”

In between speakers, Foley thanked several city officials who attended, including city councilors from Boston and Somerville. He shouted out the many unions and labor groups in attendance, including the Boston Teachers Union, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Local 26, United Auto Workers, and the Greater Boston Labor Council, among others.

In solidarity with labor as we demand for Rumeysa’s immediate release pic.twitter.com/VBOWQ4aHzJ

— Benjamin Weber (@ben4district6) April 1, 2025

Several of Öztürk’s fellow members of the Tufts Grad Workers Union shared their stories about her presence on campus as a “fixture” who fostered an “inclusive, inspiring, and intellectually rich community.”

After speeches from the students and an AFL-CIO representative, Campbell took to the podium, lambasting the Trump administration and ICE for Öztürk’s detainment.

“In no way is the detainment and abduction of Rümeysa advancing public safety here in Massachusetts or in this country,” Campbell said in her speech. “It’s an insult to everything this country stands for, and if you do not know your historical context, you better get to know it real quick.”

Wu expressed a similar sentiment, saying “the country that so many of us are fighting for” is in “dark times.”

“We are asking unthinkable questions about whether we still live in a democracy with rule of law, where we are protected for our individuality and our humanity, or if we are living in a time when bullying and intimidation are how our government operates,” Wu said in her speech. “This moment is about Rümeysa, and this moment is about something larger and more fundamental. It’s about all of us. Due process matters. Freedom matters. A society governed by laws matters.”

Despite Wu’s fears about the state of the nation, she asserted that Boston would stay strong, echoing the rhetoric of her State of the City address last month.

“Boston will never back down to bullies, and in this moment, in an onslaught of injustice, what we are going to do is stand up together,” Wu said in her speech. “I want to thank each and every one of you for continuing the fight.”

State Senator Pat Jehlen of Somerville raised awareness about the Luce Defense Hotline, a resource created by the Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts where people can report ICE or FBI activity in their neighborhoods.

Jehlen also read “First They Came,” a poetic form of Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous quote about Nazi rule, echoing the quote’s final line.

“Trump is coming for all of us all at once, and there is power in solidarity,” Jehlen said in her speech.

The protesters at Monday’s rally expressed pride in showing that solidarity and its power.

“I’ve been trying to come to every event I can that defends the rights of people and for the release of Rümeysa and Mahmoud Khalil,” Damian Durgin, a protester with the Boston Party for Socialism and Liberation, told Boston.com.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey were not present; representatives read statements on their behalf.

Dálida Rocha, the executive director of Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, encouraged the state to keep protecting immigrant families and “continue to fight for the soul of democracy.”

Foley brought the crowd together again to end the rally, leading with the chant, “Come for one, face us all, free Rümeysa, free them all.”

SEIU has organized an email campaign to submit statements supporting Öztürk to local publications.

Öztürk’s legal team has organized a fundraiser for her medical expenses and bail or bond, if one is set. As of Tuesday night, the project has raised more than $94,000.