On March 25th, masked federal agents from Plain Cross surrounded, apprehended, and handcuffed a Turkish doctoral student named Rumeysa Ozturk, close to her residence on the outskirts of Boston.
Ozturk, a student at Tufts University holding a valid student visa, was forcibly placed into an unmarked car and transported to an immigration detention facility in Louisiana.
Officials have alleged that Ozturk “participated in pro-Hamas activities” without presenting any proof. However, her main criticism appears to stem from her co-authored opinion pieces that challenge Tufts’ response to the conflict in Gaza.
Video of the arrest was startling, yet it was not unexpected. During the 2024 presidential campaign, President Trump consistently threatened to take action against campus demonstrators. Last May, he told campaign supporters that “I’ll throw them out of the country” referencing student protests, claiming they would act upon hearing it due to the presence of many international students.
Upon assuming office, Trump made an announcement addressed to resident aliens involved in “jihadist protests,” stating, “We will locate you. We will remove you.”
Last month, Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and Columbia University student with a pregnant American wife, was the first to be arrested and threatened with deportation, accused of links to Hamas without clear evidence.
Other students and researchers from Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Georgetown, and the University of Alabama have been subsequently targeted for deportation as they were linked to unspecified “national security threats.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims he has revoked over 300 visas due to “activities counter to our foreign policy,” impacting students and other international attendees. He stated to reporters, “Whenever I find one of these radicals, I will revoke their visas.”
Rubio has launched the “State Department” catch and cancel program, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze social media to identify “foreigners appearing to support Hamas or other designated terrorist groups.” Similar actions have been initiated to deny visas for students who have criticized the U.S. or Israel, aligned with an executive directive calling for the expulsion of foreigners with a “hostile stance” towards American citizens, culture, government, or foundational principles.
Students who have lost their visas due to diverging from previous norms are forced to leave the country immediately. Furthermore, numerous foreign visitors and researchers at U.S. borders are facing entry denials and intensive searches of their mobile devices and laptops.
Several lawsuits have been filed to contest the legality of these detentions and deportations, highlighting concerns regarding free speech, due process, and immigration law. Nonetheless, broader queries arise beyond disputed legal matters: Is the Trump administration’s stance towards international students and researchers in line with American values, principles, and interests?
Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, recently wrote against the deportation of campus activists under the Trump administration, stating: “If we sacrifice constitutional liberties for safety, we jeopardize the foundation of the diverse and pluralistic society we aim to protect.”
The Constitution explicitly safeguards the rights of non-citizens to free speech and due process in the United States, yet the extensive discretion granted by the government in matters of visas, detention, and deportation often obscures the application of these rights in immigration contexts. The administration relies heavily on obscure and seldom-enforced sections of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, allowing for deportation of non-citizens on grounds that “there is reasonable belief of their involvement.”
The Trump administration has evidently targeted students and researchers due to political beliefs perceived as contrary to fundamental norms. The scale of such actions has not been observed since the McCarthy era when numerous non-citizens were deported for being suspected communists.
The result is a climate of fear and anxiety. Many non-citizens, faculty members, and staff hesitate to travel internationally, participate in protests, post on social media, or engage in scholarly work, as public authorship or research may make them targets for removal. Some fear participating in classes or campus events. The Dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism cautioned international students at the institution, stating, “No one can shield you.”
The current damage to higher education in America cannot be overstated. The liberty to pursue ideas without restraint has contributed to the global prominence of our universities. Suppressing the voices of significant community segments undermines the collective.
International students have already started to question the safety and wisdom of studying in the U.S., potentially jeopardizing American higher education by lacking talented youth who could become productive U.S. citizens or return home enriched by their nation’s democratic experiences. The U.S. also risks losing vital faculty and graduate students critical for advanced research that propels the U.S. economy.
Is this the America we aspire to? A nation where masked agents seize international students from the streets, granting them little to no recourse against the reasons for their detention and subsequent deportation? Where a U.S. citizen living in Maryland, a father of a five-year-old son with autism, can be deported to El Salvador due to “administrative errors” encountered by Justice Department officials?
As courts tackle legal dilemmas, Americans across the political spectrum must raise their voices. Conservatives, who traditionally oppose overwhelming government intrusion into personal affairs, may find their outrage particularly resonant, especially if they demand an end to such deeply un-American actions.
The government’s “overreach” strategies obscure any focus on real threats to the realm of higher education or democracy. Failing to stand up when others are targeted risks creating a situation described by German theologian Martin Niemoller in his famous poem, leading to a reality where “no one speaks for us.”
Glenn C. Altschler is Professor Emeritus Thomas and Dorothy Litwin, American Studies at Cornell University. David Whipman is honorary president of Hamilton University.
