March 26, 2024: Öztürk co-authors op-ed in the Daily calling on university to adopt Gaza resolutions
Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk co-wrote an op-ed with three other graduate students calling on the university to adopt resolutions related to the war in Gaza, including recognizing genocide, issuing an apology for past statements by University President Sunil Kumar and disclosing investments and ties with Israel.
March 25, 2025: ICE agents arrest Öztürk in Somerville
After having her visa revoked by the U.S. Department of State, Öztürk was arrested by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Somerville and taken to ICE facilities in New Hampshire and Vermont before being flown to Louisiana. While on her way to break a Ramadan fast, Öztürk was captured on video screaming as agents removed her backpack and placed her in handcuffs. In the following days, students and local residents took to the streets in protest and petitioned the university to take action to secure her release.
March 29, 2025: Federal judge orders Öztürk not to be removed from the country
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper ruled that Öztürk could not be removed from the country pending a jurisdiction ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union joined her legal team and filed an amended petition arguing that her transfer to Louisiana — carried out without notifying her counsel, the court or the Department of Justice — reflected a broader ICE pattern of moving detainees to remote locations to obstruct habeas filings.
March–April 2025: Public outcry increases
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and 30 senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other Trump administration officials demanding answers about the legal basis for Öztürk’s detention and calling for her release. Tufts students organized a walkout on April 1 in support of Öztürk, while Jewish faculty called on the university not to equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
April 4, 2025: Judge denies government motion to move Öztürk case to Louisiana
Judge Casper denied the government’s motion to dismiss and transfer Öztürk’s case to Louisiana, instead moving it to Vermont, where Öztürk had been held overnight when her petition was filed. Casper also kept in place the existing order barring her removal from the country.
April 11, 2025: Öztürk describes poor detention conditions
In a court filing, Öztürk described unsafe detention conditions, a lack of proper medical care for her asthma and other circumstances her counsel called extraordinary. Her lawyers asked a federal judge in Vermont to order her immediate release or return to Vermont, arguing that her detention in Louisiana violated her constitutional rights, harmed her health and interfered with her education. The government contended that the case was filed in the wrong court and should be handled in Louisiana, arguing that the court lacked authority to grant relief.
April 18–24, 2025: Louisiana judge denies bond to Öztürk while Vermont judge orders transfer
An immigration judge denied bond to Öztürk, calling her a flight risk and a danger to the community. Meanwhile, her lawyers argued in federal court that her detention was unconstitutional, retaliatory and harmful to her health, and sought to move her case to Vermont. A federal judge in Vermont ruled that the court had jurisdiction over her habeas petition and ordered that she be transferred from Louisiana to Vermont for further hearings, finding that her return would allow proper review of constitutional claims, medical concerns and potential bail without interfering with immigration proceedings.
April 22, 2025: Tufts Democrats and Tufts Republicans release joint statement condemning Öztürk’s detention
The groups argued that punishing her for a March 2024 op-ed would contradict the university’s commitment to free expression and called on federal agencies to provide evidence justifying her detention. Leaders from both groups said the bipartisan statement was meant to reduce campus fear, demand transparency from the government and show that students across the political spectrum could unite in support of free speech and due process.
May 9, 2025: Öztürk released
A federal judge in Vermont ordered Öztürk’s release from ICE detention in Louisiana, allowing her to return to Somerville and travel within Massachusetts and Vermont after finding that the government had presented no evidence of violent activity beyond the op-ed she co-authored. The judge said her lawyers had raised serious First Amendment and due process concerns. The decision followed an appeals court deadline for the government to transfer her to Vermont, as she continued to challenge her detention in a separate habeas case while her immigration proceedings were ongoing.
She returned to Massachusetts on May 10 and held a press conference with elected officials at Boston Logan Airport. Speakers criticized her arrest as unsupported by evidence, emphasized that her deportation case was ongoing and said the ruling raised serious First Amendment and due process concerns while highlighting the broader treatment of other detainees.
July 17, 2025: Öztürk writes op-ed detailing conditions in ICE detention
In an op-ed copublished in the Daily and Vanity Fair, Öztürk described her arrest and 45 days in ICE detention, where she said she faced overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, inadequate medical care, sleep deprivation and worsening asthma, while witnessing other detainees struggle with illness, family separation and a lack of basic necessities. She wrote that the experience changed her view of the U.S. immigration system, arguing that detention conditions reflect broader injustice and dehumanization of immigrants.
Dec. 8, 2025: Judge orders reinstatement of SEVIS record
Judge Casper ordered the government to restore Öztürk’s SEVIS student record, finding that its termination after her arrest likely violated federal law and caused irreparable harm by blocking her from paid research work, doctoral training and lawful student status. The court said the government failed to give a consistent legal justification for the termination. The ruling allows her to regain her academic standing while her broader immigration and constitutional cases continue. The government appealed the decision, and the case remains ongoing.
Feb. 10, 2026: Immigration judge terminates proceedings due to lack of evidence
A Boston immigration judge ended removal proceedings against Öztürk, finding that the Department of Homeland Security failed to show valid grounds for deportation. Her lawyers said the case is not fully resolved because the government can still appeal, and her habeas case in federal court continues.
Feb. 20, 2026: Öztürk graduates from Tufts
Öztürk announced that she received her Ph.D. from Tufts’s Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, completing her degree after a year marked by her ICE detention, visa revocation and multiple court battles tied to an op-ed she co-authored as a doctoral student. Although her immigration case was dismissed and her student record restored, appeals in federal courts are still pending. In a public post, she said that despite the ordeal, she remains committed to research on child development, media and compassion while calling attention to global human rights abuses.
For more information, visit our page with previous coverage of Rümeysa Öztürk.
