A Tufts University graduate student on a visa was detained by U.S. immigration officials who can be seen grabbing her off the sidewalk near her home in startling surveillance footage.
Rumeysa Ozturk is a Turkish national studying for a PhD under an F-1 visa. She was on her way to break her Ramadan fast with friends when agents from the Department of Homeland Security took her into custody near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, according to a statement her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, shared with HuffPost.
A video shared by local news outlet WCVB shows Ozturk walking down the street as an immigration official in plain clothes grabs her. Other agents, also apparently in plain clothes, then surround her.
Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said the university had no prior knowledge of Ozturk’s detainment and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to that, according to a Tuesday statement sent to HuffPost.
“From what we have been told subsequently, the student’s visa status has been terminated, and we seek to confirm whether that information is true,” Kumar said. “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.”
It’s unclear on what grounds Ozturk was detained. However, the incident draws parallels to the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate who played a prominent role in campus advocacy before he was abducted by immigration officials.
Ozturk was previously targeted by pro-Israel group Canary Mission, which publishes information online about students and professors who have expressed pro-Palestinian sentiments. The website characterized her as engaging in “anti-Israel activism in March 2024,” referencing an op-ed Ozturk co-authored last year, urging Tufts’ president to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HuffPost.
It has been more than 20 hours since Ozturk was detained, but her attorney said in the statement that she still has not been told where her client is.
“This is very bizarre and concerning,” Khanbabai said. “No charges have been filed against Rumeysa to date that we are aware of.”
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The attorney filed a habeas petition in federal court the same night her client was detained, requesting that Ozturk not be moved out of the district of Massachusetts, according to court records reviewed by HuffPost.
The judge ruled in favor of Khanbabai’s motion and issued an order blocking Trump’s immigration officials from moving Ozturk outside of the district without first providing advance notice.