Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts doctoral student released from an immigration detention center in Louisiana Friday, returned to Boston Saturday night.
“In the last 45 days, I lost both my freedom and also my education during a crucial time for my doctoral studies,” she said during a press conference at Logan International Airport in Boston. “But I am so grateful for all the support, kindness and care.”
She is looking forward to returning to the Tufts community, her professors and her students.
Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass.; U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District; representatives of the ACLU and Öztürk’s lawyers used the moment to celebrate her release.
“It’s a victory for Rümeysa. It’s a victory for us. It’s a victory for our democracy,” Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said.
The dignitaries and lawyers also used the moment as a call to action, urging the public to stand up for free speech, due process and other rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.
Öztürk was released on bail pending an immigration hearing. She will continue her case in court. “I have faith in the American system of justice,” she said.
The decision by Judge William K. Sessions III to release Öztürk came after a bail hearing in federal court in Vermont. He said the government offered no evidence for why Ozturk was arrested other than a pro-Palestinian op-ed she co-wrote for the Tufts University student newspaper.
A State Department memo said Öztürk‘s student visa was revoked after an assessment that her actions ”‘may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization’ including co-authoring an op-ed that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March, without providing evidence, that investigations found that Öztürk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
“She never should have been detained for one day let alone 45,” Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, said Saturday. “It’s a violence to rip someone from home, their community … for nothing but their beliefs.”
While detained, Öztürk suffered regular and escalating asthma attacks, Rossman said Friday. “We … won’t stop fighting until she is free for good.”
Öztürk, detailing her growing asthma attacks in detention and her desire to finish her doctorate degree focusing on children and social media, appeared at a bail hearing remotely Friday from the Louisiana center.
Lawyers for Öztürk, 30, said her detention violated her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.
She was released on her own recognizance with no travel restrictions, Sessions said. She is not a danger to the community or a flight risk, he said, adding that he might amend his release order to consider specific conditions by ICE.
He said he didn’t think electronic monitoring would be in order, and that she would also check in with a staffer of the Burlington Community Justice Center for supervisory checks.
Rumeysa Ozturk, center, with Nora Ahmed of ACLU Louisiana and Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Law on Friday in Basile, La., shortly after her release from an immigration detention center.(Ozturk legal team via AP)
During her detention, Öztürk said she was able to continue her studies despite the difficult circumstances.
“My advisor sent me my dissertation proposal to the prison. My lab mates have been reading books to me on the phone,” she said. “My department, professors, students have sent me so many letters of support. So much love.”
Markey commended Öztürk for her courage.
“Today is a tremendous day as we welcome you back, Rumeysa,” Markey said. “You have made millions and millions of people across our country so proud of the way you have fought.”
Immigration officials surrounded Öztürk in Massachusetts on March 25 and drove her to New Hampshire and Vermont before putting her on a plane to a detention center in Basile, Louisiana.
Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said.
Öztürk‘s lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and could not speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont.
Öztürk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university’s response to student activists demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Öztürk said Friday that if she were released, Tufts would offer her housing and her lawyers and friends would drive her to future court hearings.
“I will follow all the rules,” she said.
On Saturday, Pressley noted the public outcry over Öztürk’s arrest and the outpouring of support for her release.
“We welcome you home with open arms. We never forgot about you,” Pressley said. “We will not rest until your visa is restored so you can resume your studies.”
