Timeline: The case of Rumeysa Ozturk
The events that occurred a year before her arrest, and what's happened since
Secretary of State Marco Rubio estimates he’s revoked about 300 student visas.
“They’re visitors to the country. If they’re taking activities that are counter to our foreign –to our national interest, to our foreign policy, we’ll revoke the visa,” Rubio said to reporters last week.
Supporters of these foreign students say the government is trying to deport them for their speech. As Matt wrote Sunday, it’s become difficult to comment intelligently on these cases because of their pace and the inconsistent news coverage.
Matt is planning a trip to Louisiana to learn about the government’s “extreme vetting” of immigrants. By the way, Matt would like to hear from you if you’re an immigration attorney dealing with these cases. You can email him at taibbi@substack.com.
Rumeysa Ozturk is one of the most high profile cases. She’s a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University who earned a master’s degree at Columbia as a Fulbright Scholar. Ozturk was arrested last Tuesday, a year after she was one of four authors of an op-ed that primarily criticized the university’s response to resolutions that, among other things, demanded that top university administrators “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”
Here’s a timeline of her case, including related records as well as events preceding her apprehension.
March 4, 2024
The Tufts Community Union Senate passes three resolutions offered by the school’s Coalition for Palestine Liberation. According to the student newspaper, The Tufts Daily, they call for:
Tufts President Sunil Kumar, deans, and provost to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”
Tufts to divest from Israeli companies.
To cease selling Sabra products in dining halls.
Sabra was co-owned by an Israeli company at the time, the Strauss Group. The company has long been the target of activists for its support of the IDF. Here’s an example of one campaign to boycott Sabra.
Kumar, the university’s President, and other top school officials respond that day with a statement that says “we’re disappointed that a majority voted to pass” the resolutions. The statement also says the school rejects the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement.
These resolutions, which mirror others being promoted by student groups at universities and colleges nationwide, do not promote nuanced understanding through broader dialogue. The immense loss of life in Gaza is tragic. We mourn with the Palestinians, but we also feel for the Israelis grieving over those they have lost and share their desire for the safe return of the hostages. It is possible to hold both of these views simultaneously. It is also possible for us to be supportive of both the right of Israel to exist and for the self-determination rights of the Palestinian people. However, these resolutions do not allow for these views to coexist and, as a result, force our community into opposing groups rather than uniting us to build from areas of agreement.
March 26, 2024
Ozturk is one of four writers of an op-ed in the Tufts Daily under the headline:
The piece says there are “credible accusations” against Israel that include “accounts of deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausible genocide.”
But the op-ed mostly expresses outrage at the university’s response:
While an argument may be made that the University should not take political stances and should focus on research and intellectual exchange, the automatic rejection, dismissive nature and condescending tone in the University’s statement have caused us to question whether the University is indeed taking a stand against its own declared commitments to free speech, assembly and democratic expression.
March 25, 2025
Ozturk is stopped on a sidewalk by officers from the Department of Homeland Security, all but one in masks. They identify themselves as police. A person shouts out, “Well you don’t look like it. Why are you hiding your faces?” before she is taken away in handcuffs or zip ties.
That evening, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani orders that Ozturk can’t be moved outside Massachusetts without first providing written notice. If such a notice is filed, 48 hours must elapse before she is moved.
Ozturk’s visa was revoked March 21, according to a motion filed by Ozturk’s attorneys later in the week.
March 26, 2025
Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, posts a picture of Ozturk being arrested and says “DHS + ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas.”
The government has not provided any evidence of that.
Ozturk’s attorneys, meanwhile, say the Justice Department informed them on March 26 that she had been transferred to an ICE facility in Louisiana, according to a motion they filed later in the week.
Ozturk’s transfer to Louisiana is also a big topic at protests that start March 26, according to this report on NBC’s Boston affiliate:
“Why she was transferred to Louisiana despite the court order is unfathomable,” says one speaker.
A statement from Tufts University administration calls her arrest “disturbing.”
We recognize how frightening and distressing this situation is for her, her loved ones, and the larger community here at Tufts, especially our international students, staff, and faculty who may be feeling vulnerable or unsettled by these events. As noted by the Massachusetts Attorney General in her statement today, the footage of Rumeysa’s arrest is disturbing. We stand with our Muslim students, especially during their observance of Ramadan, as we recognize that Rumeysa was on her way to an Iftar gathering with friends at the Interfaith Center when she was detained.
March 27, 2025
Justice Department lawyers say in court that Ozturk was transferred before they received the judge’s order.
Rubio was asked about Ozturk later that day:
Oh, we revoked her visa. It's an F1 visa. I believe we revoked it. And here's why. And I'll say it again. I said it everywhere. Let me be abundantly clear, okay? If you go apply for a visa right now, anywhere in the world, let me just send this message out. If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you're coming to the United States, it's not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa.
Meanwhile, 34 members of Congress send a letter (below) to Rubio, Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, demanding answers to several questions. Among them:
Why did DHS officials arrest Ozturk?
What agency conducted the arrest?
Which DHS officials approved this arrest?
Under what specific legal authority was the arrest authorized?
How many students has DHS arrested pursuant to this authority?
What was the legal authority under which her visa was terminated?
March 28, 2025
Ozturk’s attorneys file an amended complaint that disputes the Justice Department’s claim that she was transferred before the Talwani’s order:
Sometime after receiving that order, ICE officials transferred Rümeysa to Louisiana without notifying the Court, her counsel, or Department of Justice counsel on this case. Meanwhile, Respondents withheld information about Rümeysa’s location from Petitioner’s counsel (and apparently, from Department of Justice attorneys on this case) until nearly 24 hours after she had been detained. On information and belief, the movement of Petitioner to other states is consistent with, and part of, ICE’s pattern and practice of moving people detained for their speech to distant locations incommunicado and in secret to frustrate the ability of counsel to file habeas petitions on their behalf.
The motion also says “her arrest and detention are designed to silence her, punish her for her speech, and ensure that other students will be chilled from expressing pro-Palestinian viewpoints. Her continued detention is therefore unlawful.”
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper delivers a court order later that day that says “Ozturk shall not be removed from the United States until further Order of this Court.”
It still must be determined if the district court in Boston will retain jurisdiction in the case.
a visitor to your home for dinner that stands on your dining table and screams at you is a terrible guest. Most likely you would call the cops to drag the offender from your home. Rubio is correct. These people are visitors and should demonstrate their admiration for our political rights rather than assuming they currently possess them.
I want them deported. NOT bc of Israel or antisemitism— but bc they are snotty, antiAmerican, entitled brats studying here to plot our demise. And not even appreciate it! They can wait for their due process in a holding cell just like Americans do. Does no one on the left know what a country jail is for? If they dont like it- go home!!