US judge halts deportation of Turkish student at Tufts University

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A federal judge in Massachusetts has ordered that Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University who voiced support for Palestinians and was detained by federal immigration officials this week, should not be deported for now, Reuters reports.

Ozturk, a 30-year-old woman, was taken into custody by US immigration authorities near her Massachusetts home, according to a video that went viral showing the arrest by the masked federal agents. US officials revoked her visa.

“To allow the Court’s resolution of its jurisdiction to decide the Petition, Ozturk shall not be removed from the United States until further Order of this Court,” yesterday’s order in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts said.

The Department of Homeland Security has accused Ozturk, without providing evidence, of “engaging in activities in support of Hamas”, a group which the US government categorises as a “foreign terrorist organisation”.

The DHS had no immediate comment on the ruling, which was welcomed by the Turkish student’s lawyers. Ozturk, a Fulbright Scholar and student in Tufts’ doctoral program for Child Study and Human Development, was on an F-1 visa.

 Demonstrators attend a city council meeting after Tufts PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk was taken into custody by federal agents, in Somerville, Massachusetts, US on March 27, 2025. — Reuters/Reba Saldanha
Demonstrators attend a city council meeting after Tufts PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk was taken into custody by federal agents, in Somerville, Massachusetts, US on March 27, 2025. — Reuters/Reba Saldanha

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