New details about the case of the Tufts University student detained by ICE

A Tufts University student is being held at an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, and there are growing questions about how she was taken into custody and the timeline of sending her out of state.

One major issue is whether federal authorities defied the court order to keep Rumeysa Ozturk in Massachusetts, as it was issued just hours after her arrest Tuesday night.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani initially issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Ozturk was being detained. Talwani also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside the District of Massachusetts without 48 hours advance notice.

In a response to a new judge's order to explain her relocation, the U.S. Attorney's Office seemed to suggest she was moved quickly before the courts got involved, saying, "…Petitioner was detained outside of Massachusetts at the time the Petition was filed and the Court’s Service Order was issued."

The government said in its response Thursday that it "will set forth the timeline" of Ozturk's arrest and transfer from Massachusetts.

The facility where she's being held is one of nine in Louisiana that house immigrants waiting for legal proceedings or deportation, according to a 2024 report on ICE's website. It's situated on the outskirts of a rural town about 50 miles northwest of Lafayette.

"A woman who is detained in Massachusetts, if ICE wants to keep them in detention, almost by definition, has to be transferred out of the state," noted American Immigration Council Senior Fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.

Reichlin-Melnick said the Bay State does not have an ICE detention center for women -- most are in southern states like Louisiana, a state where the traditionally conservative Fifth Circuit Court presides.

"In immigration court, the judicial precedent of the immigration judge will be applying is Fifth Circuit precedent, and that may make it harder for her to actually, ultimately, win her case and stay in the United States," he added.

Video shows Ozturk, a Tufts University PhD student from Turkey, screaming as plain-clothes agents surrounded her and grabbed her on a Somerville sidewalk just off campus before taking her away on Tuesday night.

Ozturk's attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Immigration Law, said she maintained a valid F-1 visa – that's now been terminated.

On Tuesday, a federal court judge ordered that Ozturk not be removed from Massachusetts without notice. Yet, according to her attorney, they couldn’t locate her for hours. It wasn't immediately clear when she was moved to Louisiana — if it was before or after the judge's order blocking her removal. Khanbabi detailed her client's version of events in a statement:

"Over twenty-four hours after her arrest, Rumeysa was processed at her final detention facility after being driven to multiple government offices in New England and flown to Louisiana on early Wednesday morning. Throughout that period of time, my client was not charged or given the opportunity to speak with a lawyer. I had the opportunity to speak with Rumeysa on Thursday late night and she was grateful to finally get an explanation of what was happening to her and to learn of all the community support she has."

She goes on to say that Ozturk has not been charged with any crime and that it appears she was targeted based on her free speech.

"We should all be horrified at the way DHS spirited away Rumeysa in broad daylight. No person, regardless of their citizenship status, should be targeted over their views, especially in support of human rights," Khanbabai said.

She said she is now working to get her client released before she is removed from the country.

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement accusing Ozturk of engaging in activities in support of Hamas, saying in part, “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." They have not provided any evidence or explained how Ozturk supported the group.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration has revoked the visas of at least 300 people, including Ozturk: "We do it every day."

"We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist, to tear up our university campuses," Rubio told reporters during a stop in Guyana.

Tufts students say they believe Ozturk was targeted for an article she wrote with three other students, calling for the university to divest from companies directly tied to Israel.

"It's not just cause 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," Rubio said.

The government has not provided any evidence suggesting Ozturk took part in any such activities at Tufts.

"Once you've lost your visa, you're no longer legally in the United States, and we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country," Rubio said in a message to other foreign visitors to the U.S.

"A lot of them are being censored the way they are recently when it comes to their political beliefs," Boston-based immigration Attorney Giselle Rodriguez said of foreign students.

The clients Rodriguez represents include international students with visas. She's beginning to advise her clients to be mindful of what they say and do despite freedom of speech protections in the country.

"Whatever they do now, it will carry on with them forever," she warned.

"Why she was transferred to Louisiana despite the courts order is unfathomable," said one Tufts student supporting Ozturk.

"We need to call what happened to Rameysa by what it is — state-sanctioned political kidnapping," an attendee at a rally on behalf of Ozturk said Wednesday night.

"I think it's atrocious, I think it's awful," said Tufts student Liz Graham.

"I'm sure everybody is fearful. Especially international students," said Rohan Bhatia, a sophomore at Tufts.

"I think what we saw with the abduction of a neighbor by federal agent was just really disturbing and brought home the crisis that we are seeing across the country. This national attack on immigrants, on people of color, on people for their political beliefs," said Zac Bears, president of the Medford City Council.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell called the arrest "disturbing."

"Based on what we now know, it is alarming that the federal administration chose to ambush and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding individual because of her political views," Campbell said. "This isn't public safety, it's intimidation that will, and should, be closely scrutinized in court."

Both the university and the attorney general say they’re working to ensure she has due process.

The university notes that it has a protocol to notify the Tufts University Police Department and inform the dispatcher in the event of "government officials who arrive on campus for an unannounced site visit." People are urged to call 617-627-3030 to report such an incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.