The Trump administration said that she had “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” Her friends and lawyers say all she did was co-write an essay critical of the war in Gaza in the student newspaper.
Ms. Ozturk is not the only one being subjected to aggressive arrest tactics of the kind usually reserved for criminal suspects. She is one of at least nine students and academics legally in the United States who have expressed pro-Palestinian views and whom the Trump administration is trying to deport over what it has called ties to antisemitism on campus. And administration officials have signaled that these detentions and deportations reflect the beginning of a broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters.
Have you seen videos of Ms. Ozturk’s arrest? Have you read about the detention of other students, like the Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil?
What have been your reactions? Do you support the Trump administration’s efforts to detain and deport international college students? Or do you think these actions are a violation of civil liberties — including free expression and due process?
In “What We Know About the Detentions of Student Protesters,” Kate Selig gives an overview:
The Trump administration is trying to deport pro-Palestinian students and academics who are legally in the United States, a new front in its clash with elite schools over what it says is their failure to combat antisemitism.
The White House asserts that these moves — many of which involve immigrants with visas and green cards — are necessary because those taken into custody threaten national security. But some legal experts say that the administration is trampling on free speech rights and using lower-level laws to crack down on activism.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on his plane on Thursday night that the State Department under his direction had revoked the visas of possibly more than 300 people and was continuing to revoke visas daily. He did not specify how many of those people had taken part in campus protests or acted to support Palestinians but said “there’s a lot of them now.”
She continues:
Who is being targeted?
The nine people who have been pursued and, in some cases, detained by federal officials include current and former students and professors. Most of them have publicly expressed pro-Palestinian views. Some have green cards, making them lawful permanent residents. Others have student visas, which allows foreign nationals to enter the United States for full-time study.
The extent of their involvement in pro-Palestinian advocacy varies. Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident who is believed to be the first to be taken into custody, helped lead high-profile protests at Columbia University against Israel’s war in Gaza. Mr. Khalil, who has Palestinian heritage, is married to an American citizen who is eight months pregnant. He was sent to a detention center in Louisiana.
The administration has also targeted students who have been less involved. Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish citizen and graduate student at Tufts University, was taken into federal custody on Tuesday. She had drawn the attention of a right-wing group that claims to combat antisemitism on college campuses and publicizes its findings online after helping write an opinion piece in the student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to pro-Palestinian demands.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said investigators with that agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement “found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans. A visa is a privilege, not a right.” She did not offer evidence or details of that support.
A video of Ms. Ozturk’s detention, showing plainclothes agents from the Homeland Security Department detaining her as she was heading out to break her Ramadan fast with friends, has circulated widely online. “This video should shake everyone to their core,” her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, said in a statement on Wednesday. Ms. Ozturk is being held in Louisiana.
As it scrutinizes people living in the United States, investigators for ICE have been searching videos, online posts and news clippings of campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war. The government also appears to be getting information from private organizations.
Is this legal? Can the government detain and deport someone for expressing a certain view? The First Amendment, after all, protects freedom of speech in nearly absolute terms. It allows people to espouse even the most unsavory views, including support for genocide, and face no criminal penalty as a result.
