Tufts student detained by ICE in Louisiana meets with 3 Massachusetts lawmakers
Three Massachusetts lawmakers have returned from Louisiana, where they met with a Tufts student being detained by ICE at a detention center, and said they will continue to fight for her release from prison.
Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Rep. Jim McGovern visited a Louisiana ICE detention facility this week to advocate for the release of Rumeysa Ozturk. The international student, was taken into custody in Somerville by ICE last month. The federal government alleges that she supports Hamas. Her supporters and her attorneys, however, said her detention stems from an op-ed she co-authored in the Tufts student newspaper, which was critical of the university's response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
"Rumeysa has not committed any crime"
"Rumeysa has not committed any crime," said Pressley. "She was abducted, kidnapped in broad daylight, simply for authoring an op-ed that this White House didn't like."
Lawmakers met with Oztruk, who described the conditions inside the detention center. In one instance, she said she waited three days for toilet paper.
"We let her know that along with many others, we have her back, we will have her back, and we'll continue to fight for her release from prison," said Markey.
Tufts students call for Rumeysa Ozturk's release
Back on campus, students are rallying for Ozturk's release. Ian Descamps, a Tufts graduate student who knew her personally, described her as "caring and empathetic," and said she was always concerned about the risks associated with her international status.
"It was so painful to sort of wake up that morning and she that she had been taken," said Descamps. "This was exactly what she was concerned about."
Descamps also voiced fears about the broader implications of Ozturk's detention, saying it sends a chilling message to international students and student journalists alike.
"It's been a bit chilling and a bit terrifying. To know that this not only can happen here, but happen for someone exercising their First Amendment rights, writing in the student newspaper. I've talked with a lot of my friends about, hey, if you want someone to walk with you home, you don't feel safe on our streets, then as a community we can come together to walk with you home."
Ozturk's legal situation remains uncertain as pressure mounts on federal authorities to explain and justify the arrest. Advocates continue to call for her immediate release, while an immigration judge denied her bond last week.
