Rumeysa Ozturk released from custody
Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza A judge has ordered the release of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish resident pursuing her PhD in the US. Ms Ozturk, 30, had her visa revoked after being taken into custody on March 25 by masked immigration officers near her home in Massachusetts. 'This is a big victory for Rumeysa,' Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey posted on social media, saying her detention was unlawful. The Department of Homeland Security has accused her, without providing evidence, of 'engaging in activities in support of Hamas', the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group which the US government has designated a 'foreign terrorist organisation'. Ms Ozturk, who is also a Fulbright Scholar, last year co-authored an opinion piece in the student newspaper criticising the Tufts response to students calls to divest from companies with Israel ties and to 'acknowledge the Palestinian genocide'. A federal judge on March 28 stopped her deportation after Ms Ozturk's lawyers filed a lawsuit saying her detention infringed her rights to free speech and due process. Since taking office on January 20, President Donald Trump has pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestine protesters and has accused them, often without evidence of supporting Hamas and posing foreign policy hurdles for the US. The Trump administration also cancelled $400 million in funding for Columbia University, which was the centre of nationwide student protests last summer to demand an end to Israel's military assault on Gaza and for universities to divest from companies with ties to Israel. The US State Department reportedly plans on using artificial intelligence to potentially revoke the visas of international students accused of supporting Hamas – an idea many legal experts say is problematic from a due process standpoint.
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