Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) is detaining students from Tufts University in Somerville, Massachusetts, according to a statement from the institution and university president Sunil Kumar.
Ice confirmed Rumeysa Ozturk's detention at Fox News on Wednesday. She is originally from Türkiye.
“We received reports that an international graduate student has been detained this evening by federal authorities outside of an apartment on Somerville off-campus,” Kumar said in a statement. “The university had no prior knowledge of the incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event. Where this happened is not affiliated with Tufts University.”
Kumar said the school was said to have ended its Ozturk visa and the university was considering “whether the information is true or not.”
Columbia University student protesters su Trump administrators to prevent deportation
Immigration and customs enforcement officers arrested a graduate student at Tufts University. (Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Gloe)
“At this point, the university has no additional information on the cause or situation of the student's anxiety and is trying to learn more about the incident,” Kumar said. “According to university protocols, the university's attorney's office will help individuals connect students to external legal resources if they request our assistance.”
The legal team representing Ozturk told Fox News that he had valid F-1 visa status prior to his arrest. They also say they have not been charged with her client and are demanding her release.
Ivy League anti-Israel ring leader Mahmoud Khalil withholds details of foreign bonds from Visa applications: Feds
“Lumessa was heading to break Ramadan and meet with friends when he was detained near his home in Summerville, Massachusetts on the evening of March 25th by a DHS agent,” the Kambabai Immigration Act told Fox News in a statement. “We weren't aware of her whereabouts and were unable to contact her. We have not been charged with Rumeysa so far.”
The legal team representing Rumeysa Ozturk told Fox News he had a valid F-1 visa status prior to his arrest. (Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Gloe)
On Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani granted a petition from Ozturk's attorneys who demanded that they not be taken from the Massachusetts area.
The lawyer says he has not been charged with her at this time and demands her release. The legal team says Ozturk is not disciplined for his involvement in the campus protest, but they won't say whether she took part in the pro-Palestinian campus protest.
The video shows the arrest of Colombian anti-Israel ring leader Mahmoud Khalil
“We hope Rumeysa will be released soon. Anyone who wants to support Rumeysa is welcome to attend the rally in Somerville tonight,” the statement continued Wednesday.
According to her legal team, a Rumeysa Ozturk rally will be held on Wednesday night. (Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Gloe)
Last March, Ozturk wrote the university's response to several resolutions passed by the Tufts Community Union Senators on March 4, 2024, demanding that the university require the university to approve the Palestinian genocide and apologise for its investment in Kumar University's didir didir with discussions with Indir with discussions with Indir with discussions with Indir. Israel. ”
Ozturk was a graduate student of the School of Medicine in the Department of Children's Research and Human Development at the Tufts University Eliot-Pearson division.
On January 30, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cancel his student visa Hamas sympathizers on university campus.
On February 4th, 2025, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister will gather at the White House in Washington, DC. (Anna Money Maker/Getty Images)
Executive Order 13899 aims to combat “an unprecedented wave of despicable anti-Semitic discrimination, vandalism and violence against citizens on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, the beginning of the beginning of the 15-month war.
“To all participating resident aliens Pro-jihadist protests, We will notify you: Come in 2025, we will find you, and we will expel you,” the president said in the January 30th fact sheet of the executive order.
Hamas is a designated terrorist organization. The National Intelligence Agency says it describes it as “the largest and most capable extremist group on the Palestinian territory and one of the two major political parties on the territory.”
Hamas terrorists have seen four hostages being released to the Red Cross as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. (TPS-IL)
The Trump administration has also withdrawn federal grants from Columbia University, allegedly suspected of failing to address anti-Semitism on campus.
“We recognize that tonight's news will be painful for some members of our community, especially for our international community,” Kumar said in his statement. “As details are now available, we will continue to provide information, support and resources over the next few days.”
Click here to get the Fox News app
The cost of attending Tufts before financial aid is listed between $80,000 and $90,000 University website.
Tufts received $115.2 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health as of 2025, according to the university's website, direct costs are $88.3 million and facility and management costs are $26.9 million.
Andrew Fone of Fox News contributed to this report.
