Former Tufts Doctoral Student Returns to Turkey After Legal Settlement
A former Tufts University doctoral student has returned to Turkey following a legal settlement that ended U.S. government efforts to deport her. The case involved the revocation of her student visa after she co-signed a newspaper opinion piece related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Case Timeline and Legal Proceedings
March 2025: Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested by immigration officers outside her Massachusetts apartment. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked her student visa.
Arrest Justification: According to court filings by her lawyers, DHS cited an opinion column Ozturk co-signed in The Tufts Daily student newspaper as the sole reason for the visa revocation. The article called on the university to acknowledge Palestinian casualties and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Detention: Ozturk was detained for 45 days at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Louisiana.
May 2025: A federal judge in Vermont ordered her immediate release, finding she had presented a substantial claim that her detention was unlawful retaliation infringing on her free speech rights.
January 2026: An immigration judge in Boston terminated the deportation proceedings, determining DHS had not met its burden of proving Ozturk was removable from the United States.
Recent Settlement: The Trump administration, which had appealed the immigration judge's decision, reached a settlement with Ozturk to dismiss its appeal. As part of the settlement, the administration acknowledged Ozturk had been in the U.S. legally throughout her stay.
Statements and Outcome
Ozturk announced her return to Turkey on Friday through the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In her statement, she said she decided to leave to avoid losing more time and expressed support for other scholars who advocate for Palestine. She stated she would continue her career in Turkey.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment on the case.
Legal and Policy Context
- The Trump administration cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which allows for visa revocation if the Secretary of State deems an individual causes potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.
- Legal experts note that protests and writing op-eds are generally protected speech under the First Amendment.
- Ozturk's case occurred amid a series of immigration actions by the Trump administration against pro-Palestinian scholars, beginning in March 2025.
- On January 29, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order stating he would use legal tools to prosecute or remove individuals he considered anti-Semitic, having previously signaled he viewed some pro-Palestinian activism as such.
- The scope of the administration's authority to revoke visas under the cited law remains a subject of legal contestation.