A federal judge in Massachusetts has temporarily barred the deportation of a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, who voiced support for Palestinians amid Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and was detained by immigration officials in the United States this week.

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken into custody by US immigration authorities near her Massachusetts home on Tuesday, according to a video showing the arrest by masked federal agents. US officials revoked her visa and the Department of Homeland Security accused Ozturk, without providing evidence, of “engaging in activities in support of Hamas”.

In Friday’s order, US District Judge Denise Casper in Boston said that to provide time to resolve whether her court retained jurisdiction over the case, she was barring Ozturk’s deportation temporarily.

Ozturk’s arrest came a year after she co-authored an opinion piece in Tufts’ student newspaper criticising the university’s response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to Israel and to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide”.

Read more here.

Opinion

Editorial

Collective security
12 Mar, 2026

Collective security

ERASING previously defined ‘red lines’, the brutal US-Israeli war on Iran has brought regional states face to...
Spectrum leap
12 Mar, 2026

Spectrum leap

THE sale of 480 MHz of fifth-generation telecom spectrum for $507m is a major milestone in Pakistan’s digital...
Toxic fallout
12 Mar, 2026

Toxic fallout

WARS can leave environmental scars that remain long after the fighting is over. The strikes on Iran’s oil...
Token austerity
Updated 11 Mar, 2026

Token austerity

The ‘austerity’ measures are a ritualistic response to public anger rather than a sincere attempt to reform state spending.
Lebanon on fire
11 Mar, 2026

Lebanon on fire

WHILE the entire Gulf region has become an active warzone, repercussions of this conflict have spread to the...
Canine crisis
11 Mar, 2026

Canine crisis

KARACHI’S stray dog crisis requires urgent attention. Feral canines can cause serious and lasting physical and...