Tufts student's attorneys says ICE detention violates constitutional rights

The fate of Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University PhD student detained this week by immigration agents, remains unclear. No charges have been filed against her as of Friday.

The Fulbright scholar was arrested Tuesday on a quiet street as she was talking on the phone with her mother. Shortly afterward, she was sent over 1,300 miles south to the South Louisiana Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center, where she is currently detained.

On Friday, her legal team, which now includes the ACLU of Massachusetts, filed an amended habeas petition and complaint with the federal court in the District of Massachusetts, challenging her captivity.

“Rümeysa Öztürk’s unlawful arrest and detention is yet another escalation of this administration’s efforts to silence speech,” said Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “No person, regardless of their immigration status, can be arrested, detained, or deported as punishment for their political views. Ideas — and certainly op-eds — are not illegal. The First Amendment protects all of us.”

The amended complaint argues the detention violates Öztürk’s constitutional rights, including free speech and due process. It asks the court to order authorities immediately return Öztürk to Massachusetts.

“Because the government’s arrest and detention violate the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act, Rümeysa should be released,” the complaint reads.

“Rümeysa, like all of us in America, is entitled to express her opinions freely,” said her attorney Mahsa Khanbabai. “Now, she is being unlawfully targeted by the Trump administration simply because she co-authored an op-ed calling for Palestinians to have basic human rights.”

The revised complaint also revealed new details, including that Öztürk suffered from an asthma attack while en route to Louisiana, and didn’t have medication. Her attorney wasn’t able to speak with her for almost 30 hours after her arrest.

In response, a judge ordered Öztürk can’t be removed from the U.S. until further court order. The government must respond to the amended petition by Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Rubio addresses revoked student visa

In a press conference in Guyana, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended Öztürk’s detention and the revoking of her F-1 student visa.

“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us the reason you are coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus — we’re not going to give you a visa,” said Rubio.

“We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses,” he said of Öztürk’s case.

The government has not charged Öztürk.

Rubio said students who participate in those “kind” of activities will have their visas taken away. After that, he said, they’re no longer legally in the U.S., and can be removed from the country. He implied that the State Department has revoked hundreds of student visas since President Donald Trump took office.

“It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” said Rubio.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Öztürk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.”

In her 2024 op-ed in a student newspaper with three other authors, Öztürk said Tufts’ response to students to calls for divestment from companies tied with Israel during the ongoing occupation of Palestine was “wholly inadequate and dismissive.” The piece never mentions Hamas.

The detentions of visa holders in good standing, permanent residents, and others in the U.S. legally signal an effort by the Trump administration to remove immigrants who may not fit under their stated “worst first” agenda of detaining people with criminal convictions.

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, all Democrats representing Massachusetts, led over 30 lawmakers in writing to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons, demanding information on Öztürk’s arrest.

“The rationale for this arrest appears to be this student’s expression of her political views,” the letter reads. “We are calling for full due process in this case and are seeking answers about this case and about ICE’s policy that has led to the identification and arrest of university students with valid legal status.”

In addition to asking about Öztürk’s case, they asked if the State Department has updated its policy governing visa revocation’s after Rubio’s comments, and for details about ICE’s policies regarding the usage of face coverings and not displaying badges. “Under such circumstances, how can individuals distinguish legitimate DHS officers from potential impersonators?” they asked.

Questions about the timeline of Öztürk’s transfer to Louisiana

On Thursday, the government told the court that Öztürk, who was approached by ICE around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, was already outside of Massachusetts when her lawsuit was filed, and when Judge Indira Talwani’s order was issued at 10:55 p.m.

Attorneys pointed out prosecutors haven’t provided evidence of her location at the time the original petition was filed, or suggested that she was not in the custody and control of ICE officials in Massachusetts.

The federal government said in court documents it would “will set forth the timeline” of her arrest and transfer from Massachusetts. The state doesn’t have an ICE detention center for women.

In a video shared with GBH News, a man with a hoodie and mask approached her. As she screamed, another man took her cellphone and others surrounded her, eventually walking her to an unmarked black van with tinted windows.

“Nothing in this video indicates that these are law enforcement agents and from which agency. This video should shake everyone to their core,” said Khanbabai.

Tufts University said it had no prior warning about her arrest. Over 2,000 people attended a rally in Somerville near Tufts on Wednesday to support Öztürk’s release.