Tufts PhD student released from ICE detention after chilling arrest

Tufts University PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk has been released from an immigration detention center in rural Louisiana in response to an order from a federal judge. Öztürk’s arrest led to nationwide outrage after a chilling video showed plainclothes immigration agents in masks pulling her off the street in Massachusetts in March.

Öztürk, a 30-year-old Turkish national, has been accused of no criminal activity. Instead, the Trump administration has falsely claimed that she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” In reality, Öztürk co-wrote a op-ed for the Tufts Daily that pushed for divesting from companies with ties to Israel.

“Thank you so much for all the support and love,” Öztürk said outside the Louisiana immigration detention center on Friday. “I am a little tired so I will take some rest. But I really appreciate you being here.”

Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts PhD candidate whose sudden arrest by federal immigration agents made national headlines, walked out of a Louisiana detention facility after a judge ordered her release.

Watch the moment she spoke to supporters outside. https://t.co/rsttOeBNTz pic.twitter.com/KGd4zO1Q68

— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) May 10, 2025

At a federal court hearing earlier on Friday, William Sessions III, a district court judge in Vermont, where Öztürk was briefly detained, made clear that the Trump administration had provided essentially nothing to support its decision to detain and attempt to deport Öztürk. “There has been no evidence that has been introduced by the government other than the op-ed. I mean, that literally is the case,” Sessions said. “There is no evidence here as to the motivation, absent the consideration of the op-ed.”

“There is absolutely no evidence that she has engaged in violence or advocated violence,” Sessions said, according to CBS News. “She has no criminal record. She has done nothing other than essentially attend her university and expand her contacts within the community in such a supportive way.” The judge called Öztürk’s detention a “continued infringement” on her due process and First Amendment rights that also “potentially chil[ed] the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens.”

Michael Drescher, the Justice Department attorney representing the Trump administration, barely spoke and called no witnesses at the hearing, the New York Times reported. He did say that the administration would continue its effort to deport Öztürk regardless of whether she was released from detention.

Mahsa Khanbabai, Öztürk’s lawyer, said in a statement provided to Zeteo that she was “relieved and ecstatic” her client had been ordered released. “Unfortunately, it is 45 days too late. She has been imprisoned all these days for simply writing an op-ed that called for human rights and dignity for the people in Palestine,” Khanbabai added. “When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?”

In early April, Mother Jones reported that Öztürk had suffered three asthma attacks during her first 10 days in detention. As Sophie Hurwitz and Julia Métraux explained at the time:

Öztürk, who studies child psychology, was moved by ICE agents from Massachusetts to Vermont and then to Louisiana, her attorneys report. For nearly 24 hours, her legal team was unable to contact or locate her. En route to Louisiana, she suffered her first of three asthma attacks. Hearings in Öztürk’s case began yesterday, with her lawyers describing the way she was transported across several state lines as “venue shopping” by the government and “an act of either furtiveness or bad faith.” They also revealed that in the days since being moved to a detention center in Louisiana, Öztürk has suffered two more asthma attacks.

Unmanaged asthma can have severe acute outcomes, the most extreme being respiratory failure resulting in death, as well as long-term effects, such as permanently altering a person’s airways. The way to avoid these devastating effects is simple: People with asthma need to have access to their medication, like inhalers, to manage this chronic health condition.

CBS reported that Öztürk suffered another asthma attack during the Friday hearing. She told the court that she had suffered a dozen asthma attacks while in ICE custody, and that they were becoming “longer and harder to stop.”

The Washington Post has reported that, prior to ICE detaining Öztürk, the State Department “determined that the Trump administration had not produced any evidence showing that she engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization, as the government has alleged.” The Post added:

The finding, contained in a March memo that was described to The Washington Post, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not have sufficient grounds for revoking Ozturk’s visa under an authority empowering the top U.S. diplomat to safeguard the foreign policy interests of the United States.

The memo, written by an office within the State Department, raises doubts about the public accusations made by the Trump administration as it has sought to justify Ozturk’s deportation. The Department of Homeland Security has said Ozturk engaged in activities “in support of Hamas,” a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, but neither that agency nor U.S. prosecutors have provided evidence for that claim.

Despite that finding, the Trump administration revoked Öztürk’s visa without notification then quickly detained her. Video of her disturbing arrest attracted national attention.

Federal immigration authorities detained a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University.⁠ The government hasn’t filed any charges against Rumeysa, Ozturk, who was in the U.S. on a student visa, her lawyer said.

Read more: https://t.co/Vs3iLHGAkU pic.twitter.com/29aNJWaJmr

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) March 26, 2025

Before being targeted by the Trump administration, Öztürk was on track to receive her doctorate in February. She said at the Friday hearing that she was eager to get back to her research on adolescent media use.