Latest news with #Ozturk
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
The Video of Rumeysa Ozturk Being Detained by ICE Was Publicized By a Community Defense Network
Anadolu/Getty Images Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take On March 25, masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Rumeysa Ozturk as she walked down the street in the Boston suburb of Somerville. Ozturk is in the United States legally on a student visa and is by most accounts model citizen — a Fulbright scholar, PhD student at Tufts University, and, as argued by her lawyers, guilty of nothing. Her crime, according to the Trump administration, seems to be supporting Palestine. Ozturk's arrest is sensational in the literal sense, and the video is in many ways traumatic to watch. The masked agents appear out of nowhere, encircle the academic, and put her in handcuffs as she asks what's happening. Although it echoes the tactics we're seeing and hearing about ICE arrests all over the country, these stories are usually shared by word of mouth in rumors or whispers among neighbors. But Ozturk's situation stands out because we can watch it. That's because, as her detention was happening, another student called a community watch hotline that had started operating that week. 'He said, 'Someone's being kidnapped, someone's being kidnapped,'' recalled Danny Timpona, the LUCE Hotline operator who took the call. The hotline team dispatched 'verifiers' in Somerville — people trained to verify hotline calls and social media rumors of ICE's presence in a given area — who arrived within five minutes. They met with the caller, who was unsure who had taken Ozturk. The volunteers began knocking on doors and talking to neighbors, trying to find out if anyone might have information on what had happened, and also to calm any panic by giving out information about the hotline. A neighbor turned over the video, reportedly captured by a home security camera, that has now been seen by millions. Those volunteers are some of the more than 750 who have been trained in the last six weeks at 'community hubs' in over a dozen cities across the state, where 50 hotline operators with member groups of the LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts are now answering calls in five languages. ('LUCE' connotes 'shining a light,' in Latin, a language familiar to the region's large Catholic immigrant population.) And they're providing other resources as well. Later in the week, the group gave know-your-rights training to more than 100 Tufts students and community members. Timpona credits a 40-page Google Doc that was published just Donald Trump was inaugurated. LUCE is connecting immigrant community groups, prison abolition organizations, legal services, parent groups, and faith-based organizations. 'Our coalition is rooted in the idea that we refuse to leave anyone behind because of their marginalized identity,' shares Jaya Savita, director of the Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network and a member of the LUCE Network. 'The hotline and ICE Watch resource is one of many ways we are empowering allies and impacted community members. We recognize that in order to build people power, we need to train, empower, and equip our communities and allies.' Most of the group's tactics, from the hotline dispatch system to neighborhood-based rights workshops, are modeled on those our team at Siembra NC used to organize immigrant workers and community members in North Carolina during Trump's first term. And they're not the only ones coming together to create new defense networks. Before his reelection, Trump made clear what he was going to do: demonize Latinos and all immigrants and use the threats of raids and deportation to destroy families and communities, keeping us all scared, demoralized, and hidden. He and his billionaire friends would continue stripping away our rights, gutting public services, and harming working people. We knew the playbook he'd run since 2016, so we wrote our own. Siembra NC's Defend and Recruit playbook outlines the tools we developed during the first Trump presidency and the ways we defended immigrants in our community and built a powerful movement in North Carolina. Since February, over 6,000 people have downloaded it, and hundreds of people around the country have joined in-person and online trainings. Among them were LUCE Hotline's coordination team, who say they spent hours consulting with our organizing coaches before they set up their systems. 'It was harder than we had expected getting people to set a vision and follow through,' Timpona said. 'Even after being trained, volunteers needed a lot of coaching to do things like go up and ask questions of federal agents making arrests.' ICE says they arrested nearly 400 people in Massachusetts in the two weeks the hotline started receiving calls. 'It has been so helpful to get support from other groups just starting.' The Defend & Recruit Network includes groups along the East Coast all the way to Florida, Texas, across Michigan and Wisconsin, and into Washington and California. We're experimenting with new strategies that engage people to defend those targeted, while also building a practice of recruitment into our organizing. We just published a toolkit for students resisting detentions like Ozturk's. Although there are extreme differences in our approaches and risks depending on local factors and our personal and group identities, there's still so much we can strategize about. Building these connections helps the work feel less isolating, less impossible, as some groups in red states like Ohio and Tennessee have shared on peer learning calls. By sharing these resources, we've received dozens more in return. We're collating these community-provided resources alongside our own tools and training. We've also built customizable resources, logos, toolkits, and produced how-to videos and other materials so you can do this work in your community. It is more important than ever: ICE is escalating its raids and targeting more people — immigration activists, Palestine supporters, parents, workers, and students. Many in our communities are looking for ways to defend our rights, even if it feels like those rights are eroding in real time. Defend & Recruit organizers have talked to people all over the country who are leading this work. Some are brand new, wanting to step up and do something in today's political chaos to support neighbors and families, while others have decades of wisdom to share from their lifetime in the fight. When we asked at a recent online training how many new local groups were forming solely because of immigration defense, dozens of people put their hands up. We've created spaces to troubleshoot common problems and share what we've learned, alongside receiving individual support. Groups in St. Louis; Ulster, New York; and Austin, Texas have met together and with our organizing coaches to build their own hotlines and ICE Watch programs. In North Carolina, we're building new ways for allies to join our fight and defend communities. After hearing from employers who wanted to respond to federal agents' warrantless arrests, we're now inviting them to become Fourth Amendment Workplaces that stand up for the Constitution. We know that the far right thrives when we are scared and alone. And we know that none of us are experts in exactly what will work in today's political landscape as Trump continues to shift his tactics. The administration is employing raids at workplaces, enabling abusive employers to exploit their workers further, and targeting immigrants at schools and places of worship. They're going after green card holders and temporary visa holders, and even using an 18th-century law to deport people to an El Salvadoran prison. Their actions are unprecedented, so the way we defend our people must change, too. We have legal rights in these situations and ways we can respond — if we're ready. Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue Want more Teen Vogue immigration coverage? The School Shooting That History Forgot I Was Kidnapped After Coming to the U.S. Seeking Asylum Ronald Reagan Sucked, Actually The White Supremacist 'Great Replacement Theory' Has Deep Roots
The Herald Scotland
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Tufts student freed after ICE detention still has 'faith' in democracy
"America is the best democracy in the world, and I believe in those values we share," she told reporters Saturday. "I have faith in the American system of justice." The Trump administration has stepped up a campaign to deport pro-Palestinian campus activists. Ozturk, 30, was arrested after co-writing an opinion piece criticizing the university's response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to Israel and to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide." A closer look: Tufts student details conditions in immigration facility: Document A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told USA TODAY after Ozturk was taken into custody that a visa is a "privilege, not a right." The spokesperson, who declined to be identified, said "glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans" is grounds to terminate a visa, calling it "common-sense security." While in detention, Ozturk wrote about the "inhumane" and unsafe conditions. She says she had limited access to food, had to wait hours for toilet paper and didn't getting proper treatment for her asthma at the ICE facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana. After her release, Ozturk thanked the professors, students and "so many lovely people" who sent her letters of encouragement. "Please don't forget all the wonderful women in the immigration detention systems," she said. "I was so tired of witnessing cries and pain that can all be preventable." Mudassar Toppa, staff attorney at CLEAR, a legal non-profit aiding Ozturk's defense, said the former Fulbright Scholar "should not have spent even one minute incarcerated." "Make no mistake, the government tried to punish Ms. Ozturk for lending her pen to advocacy for Palestinian human rights," Toppa said. "The court's decision ... is not only a victory for Ms. Ozturk, but everyone who wishes to advocate for Palestinian human rights without fear of retaliation." Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr.
Los Angeles Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Tufts University student back in Boston after release from Louisiana detention center
BOSTON — A Tufts University student from Turkey who was seized on a street by federal immigration agents has returned to Boston after being released from a Louisiana immigration detention center where she was held for more than six weeks. Upon arrival at Logan Airport, Rumeysa Ozturk told reporters Saturday she was excited to get back to her studies during what has been a 'very difficult' period. 'In the last 45 days, I lost both my freedom and also my education during a crucial time for my doctoral studies,' she said. 'But I am so grateful for all the support, kindness and care.' A federal judge ordered Ozturk's release Friday pending a final decision on her claim that she was illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing her university's response to Israel and the war in Gaza. Ozturk said she will continue her case in the courts, adding, 'I have faith in the American system of justice.' She was joined by her lawyers and two of Massachusetts' Democratic members of Congress, Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley. 'Today is a tremendous day as we welcome you back, Rumeysa,' Markey said. 'You have made millions and millions of people across our country so proud of the way you have fought.' Appearing by video for her bail hearing the previous day, Ozturk, 30, detailed her worsening asthma attacks in detention and her desire to finish her doctorate focusing on children and social media. U.S. District Judge William Sessions in Vermont ruled that she was to be released on her own recognizance with no travel restrictions. She was not a danger to the community or a flight risk, he said, while noting that he might amend the release order to consider any conditions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in consultation with her lawyers. Sessions said the government offered no evidence for why Ozturk was arrested other than the op-ed. The U.S. Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review did not respond to an email message seeking comment Friday. Ozturk was one of four students who wrote the opinion piece last year in campus newspaper The Tufts Daily. It criticized the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts 'acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,' disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel. On March 25 immigration officials surrounded Ozturk in Massachusetts and took her into custody. She was then driven to New Hampshire and Vermont and flown to a detention center in Basile, La. Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said. Ozturk's lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont. A State Department memo said Ozturk's visa was revoked following an assessment that her actions 'may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization.' Ozturk co-authored an op-ed that found common ground with a group that was temporarily banned from campus. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March, without providing evidence, that investigations found that Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group. Last week a federal appeals court upheld Sessions' order to bring Ozturk back to New England for hearings to determine whether her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process, were violated, as her lawyers argue. Immigration proceedings for Ozturk, initiated in Louisiana, are being conducted separately in that state and Ozturk can participate remotely, the court said. Ngowi and Rush write for the Associated Press and reported from Boston and Portland, Ore., respectively. AP writers Kathy McCormack and Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., and Michael Casey in Boston contributed to this report.
Gulf Today
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Turkish student detained in US over Gaza war released
A Tufts University student from Turkey returned to Boston on Saturday, one day after being released from a Louisiana immigration detention centre where she was held for over six weeks. Upon arrival at Logan Airport, Rumeysa Ozturk told reporters she was excited to get back to her studies during what has been a "very difficult" period. "In the last 45 days, I lost both my freedom and also my education during a crucial time for my doctoral studies," she said. "But I am so grateful for all the support, kindness and care." 'I have faith in American justice' A federal judge ordered Ozturk's release on Friday pending a final decision on her claim that she was illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticising her university's response to Israel and the war in Gaza. Ozturk said she will continue her case in the courts, adding, "I have faith in the American system of justice." Rumeysa Ozturk, centre, with Nora Ahmed of ACLU Louisiana and Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Law on Friday. Associated Press She was joined by her lawyers and two of Massachusetts' Democratic members of Congress, Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley. "Today is a tremendous day as we welcome you back, Rumeysa," Markey said. "You have made millions and millions of people across our country so proud of the way you have fought." She's not a danger or flight risk, says judge Appearing by video for her bail hearing the previous day, Ozturk, 30, detailed her growing asthma attacks in detention and her desire to finish her doctorate focusing on children and social media. US District Judge William Sessions in Vermont ruled that she was to be released on her own recognisance with no travel restrictions. She was not a danger to the community or a flight risk, he said, while noting that he might amend the release order to consider any conditions by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in consultation with her lawyers. Mahsa Khanbabai, of Khanbabai Immigration Law, looks on as Rumeysa Ozturk speaks during a press conference. Reuters Sessions said the government offered no evidence for why Ozturk was arrested other than the op-ed. The US Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review did not respond to an email message seeking comment on Friday afternoon. Ozturk was one of four students who wrote the opinion piece last year in campus newspaper The Tufts Daily. It criticised the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide," disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel. On March 25 immigration officials surrounded Ozturk in Massachusetts and took her into custody. She was then driven to New Hampshire and Vermont and flown to a detention centre in Basile, Louisiana. Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said. Ozturk's lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont. Associated Press
USA Today
11-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Turkish student freed after 6 weeks in ICE custody has 'faith' in US judicial system
Turkish student freed after 6 weeks in ICE custody has 'faith' in US judicial system Show Caption Hide Caption Judge orders Rumeysa Ozturk to be released after claims of mistreatment in immigration detention facility Ozturk, whose student visa was revoked after publishing an op-ed, argues her detention infringes on her First Amendment rights to free speech and due process. Scripps News Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested March 25 after the State Department revoked her student visa. The Trump administration has stepped up a campaign to deport pro-Palestinian campus activists. A Turkish student seized by masked, plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on a street near her home outside Boston was back at Tufts University on Sunday after spending over six weeks at an immigration detention center in Louisiana. Rumeysa Ozturk, who had spoken out against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, was arrested March 25 after the State Department revoked her student visa. A judge ordered her immediately released on Friday. "America is the best democracy in the world, and I believe in those values we share," she told reporters Saturday. "I have faith in the American system of justice." The Trump administration has stepped up a campaign to deport pro-Palestinian campus activists. Ozturk, 30, was arrested after co-writing an opinion piece criticizing the university's response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to Israel and to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide." A closer look: Tufts student details conditions in immigration facility: Document A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told USA TODAY after Ozturk was taken into custody that a visa is a "privilege, not a right." The spokesperson, who declined to be identified, said "glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans" is grounds to terminate a visa, calling it "common-sense security." While in detention, Ozturk wrote about the "inhumane" and unsafe conditions. She says she had limited access to food, had to wait hours for toilet paper and didn't getting proper treatment for her asthma at the ICE facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana. After her release, Ozturk thanked the professors, students and "so many lovely people" who sent her letters of encouragement. "Please don't forget all the wonderful women in the immigration detention systems," she said. "I was so tired of witnessing cries and pain that can all be preventable." Mudassar Toppa, staff attorney at CLEAR, a legal non-profit aiding Ozturk's defense, said the former Fulbright Scholar "should not have spent even one minute incarcerated." 'Make no mistake, the government tried to punish Ms. Ozturk for lending her pen to advocacy for Palestinian human rights," Toppa said. "The court's decision ... is not only a victory for Ms. Ozturk, but everyone who wishes to advocate for Palestinian human rights without fear of retaliation." Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr.
