MEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - Tufts University students gathered Tuesday to rally in support of a Turkish graduate student who was detained by federal immigration agents last week.
The walkout was planned for noon in support of Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, who was arrested by masked ICE agents near her Somerville home. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security posted on social media that Ozturk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.”
Ozturk’s supporters claim she is being punished for writing a pro-Palestinian op-ed in the school’s newspaper.
Mahsa Khanbabai, Ozturk’s lawyer, said her client faces no charges, but her visa has been terminated and she is being held in an ICE facility in Lousiana.
On Tuesday, Tufts students and members of the Coalition for Palestinian Liberation left class and school buildings to rally for Ozturk’s release.
Khanbabai filed a complaint last week that the student not be deported, and a judge gave the government until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to respond.
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