ICE arrests Massachusetts Ph.D. student accused of supporting Hamas

Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a Massachusetts graduate student on Tuesday for allegedly acting in support of Hamas, the Department of Homeland Security told WORLD on Thursday. Federal investigators discovered Rumeysa Ozturk participating in activities that support the terror group, according to the emailed DHS statement. Glorifying an anti-American terror group is grounds for visa termination, and that’s a commonsense security policy, the statement added. Footage of Ozturk’s arrest outside the Tufts University campus shared with Boston’s local NPR station GPH showed the Turkish Ph.D. student being approached and detained by ICE agents. Ozturk has since been transported to an ICE processing center in Louisiana, according to ICE’s detainee location search portal.

What has Tufts said? University President Sunil Kumar addressed Ozturk’s arrest in a Tuesday email to students shared with WORLD. The university had no foreknowledge of the arrest and had not shared anything about Ozturk with authorities beforehand, according to Kumar. The university is working to confirm whether Ozturk’s student visa has been revoked, he added.

School leaders released another statement the following day reaffirming the school’s support for Muslim students, specifically during Ramadan. The Wednesday message also detailed the university’s established protocol for government officials arriving unexpectedly on campus. Students can activate protocols by calling the university police, who will then inform the appropriate school offices, possibly including legal counsel, according to the email shared with WORLD.

Ozturk is at least the third pro-Palestinian noncitizen college student to be arrested and face potential deportation in recent weeks. Authorities arrested Columbia students Mahmoud Khalil and Leqaa Kordia earlier this month.

Dig deeper: Read Steve West’s report on how far First Amendment rights can protect one from deportation.