Washington - Saba:
US authorities have arrested a Turkish student at Tufts University in Massachusetts who participated in pro-Palestine protests.
Officers from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested Rumeysa Ozturk, a senior doctoral student, as she was leaving her Somerville home to participate in a Ramadan iftar meal on Tuesday evening.
Surveillance camera footage circulating on social media showed six ICE officers, some masked, surrounding Ozturk and forcibly seizing her cell phone.
The recordings also captured the sounds of Ozturk protesting as the ICE officers handcuffed her from behind.
Meanwhile, Mahsa Khanbabai, the Turkish student's attorney, said Ozturk had a valid student visa and was arrested Tuesday evening while on her way to iftar with friends. She explained that she did not know where Ozturk was being held, and that no charges had yet been filed against her.
For its part, Tufts University clarified in a written statement that it had not received any notification regarding Ozturk's detention.
Ozturk's Turkish colleagues at the same university said that a website called Canary Mission, which leaks data on students participating in pro-Palestine demonstrations, had leaked her personal information some time ago.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security said that Ozturk was involved in "activities" that did not qualify for a student visa.
He added that she is a Turkish citizen and a doctoral student at Tufts University and has the privilege of being in that country on a visa.
He noted that the student visa issued by the United States "is not a right, but a special permission," and stated that the activities allegedly carried out by Ozturk constitute "grounds for termination" of that visa.
Ozturk's arrest comes at a time when the Trump administration is cracking down on pro-Palestinian students and academics. Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate of Columbia University, was previously arrested.
Indian scholar at Georgetown University, Badr Khan Suri, was also wanted for deportation for allegedly spreading "Hamas propaganda and anti-Semitism," but US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles suspended the decision.
The pro-Palestine protests that began at Columbia University spread to more than 50 other universities across the country, and police detained more than 3,100 people, mostly students and faculty members.
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