A Turkish student who was detained by ICE agents has been taken to a detention center in Louisiana, despite a judge’s court order.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, who is currently studying at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was swarmed by a group of agents near her off-campus home on Tuesday.
Her lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai said that Ozturk was on her way to meet with friends for iftar, a meal to break her Ramadan fast, when she was grabbed.
US District Court Judge Indira Talwani ordered on Tuesday night Ozturk to remain in the state and that the government give 48 hours notice before moving her.
On Wednesday a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Ozturk had been transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile.
It remains unclear at this time if Ozturk had already been taken to Louisiana at the time of Talwani’s order. She has yet to be charged with a crime.
She is now the third international student known to be at the facility, after Mahmoud Khalil and Badar Khan Suri were also transferred.
ICE officials say Ozturk was detained for being ‘in support of Hamas‘, and supported the organization.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, who is currently studying at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was swarmed by a group of agents near her off-campus home
Footage of her being taken in shows a group of six people approaching her from angles, all of whom are masked and wearing gold identification badges
In a statement, they said: ‘Rumesya Ozturk is a Turkish national and Tufts University graduate student, granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa.
‘DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.
‘A visa is a privilege not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security.’
Footage of her being taken in shows a group of six people approaching her from angles, all of whom are masked and wearing gold identification badges.
As two men approach her she can be heard screaming out in horror, and is visibly shaking in the clip.
‘We’re the police,’ members of the group are heard saying in the video. A man is heard on camera saying, ‘Why are you hiding your faces?’
The group put in her handcuffs and grab her backpack from her before pulling her towards a black SUV parked across the street.
Khanbabai said that Ozturk had a valid student visa as a doctoral student with Tufts officials saying they were told her visa had been terminated.
‘We’re the police,’ members of the group are heard saying in the video, as Ozturk shrieks
University president Sunil Kumar said in an email to faculty on Tuesday evening that the school was ‘seeking to confirm whether that information is true’.
Ozturk was one of four students last March who co-authored an op-ed piece in The Tufts Daily.
The piece criticized the university’s response to its community union Senate passing resolutions demanding that Tufts ‘acknowledge the Palestinian genocide’.
It also called on the school to disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
The op-ed added that the university’s response to the resolutions ‘has been wholly inadequate and dismissive of the Senate, the collective voice of the student body.’
Prior to Tufts, she graduated with a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University in New York.
Her focus at the liberal school was children’s media, she was also a 2018 Fulbright Scholar at the institute.
Ozturk’s detention comes after President Trump signed an order on January 29 that declared a crackdown on anti-Semitism which included university campuses.
Mahmoud Khalil, who was the lead student negotiator for the pro-Palestinian encampment, was arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral student at Georgetown University, was taken into custody outside of his home in Rosslyn, Virginia
Khalil, 30, was the lead student negotiator and spokesperson at Columbia University for those opposed to Israel’s campaign in Gaza at the school.
The government is seeking to deport him under a statute that allows for removing noncitizens who pose ‘potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences’.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed he had ‘led activities aligned to Hamas’ and that the action was taken ‘in coordination with the Department of State.’
The president accused Khalil of being ‘pro-Hamas’ and Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared the US would revoke visas and green cards of ‘Hamas supporters’.
He has not been charged with a crime. He is also married to a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant.
Like Khalil and Ozturk, Indian national Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral student at Georgetown Univeristy, was taken into custody by ICE agents at his Virginia home.
The Department of Homeland Security alleges Suri been involved in ‘actively spreading Hamas propaganda’ and ‘promoting antisemitism’.
His lawyer has filed a petition in federal court calling for his release, making note of Khalil’s detention.
Yunseo Chung, seen here, said that ICE are moving to have her deported from the country after she was arrested on March 5
His attorney claimed Suri is being targeted because his wife is a Palestinian, noting they have ‘long been doxxed and smeared’ for their support of Palestinian rights.
One Columbia University student has since sued the Trump administration and gone on the run from ICE agents after participating in pro-Palestine protests.
Yunseo Chung, 21, said that ICE are moving to have her deported after she was arrested on March 5 following a protest at Barnard College.
Chung, who is also a lawful permanent resident, has lived in the US since emigrating at the age of 7 from South Korea.
Days after her arrest, Chung says in her suit that ICE officials signed an arrest warrant and went to her parents’ residence looking for her.
On March 10, Chung said, a federal law enforcement official told her lawyer that her lawful permanent resident status was being ‘revoked’.
She is seeking a court order to block the Trump administration’s efforts to deport her and asked a judge to prevent her detention.
According to the suit, those in government are ‘attempting to use immigration enforcement as a bludgeon to suppress speech that they dislike.’