On Friday, May 9, 2025, Rümeysa Öztürk was released from ICE custody after a judge ordered her to be freed on bail. “Her continued detention cannot stand,” U.S. District Judge William Sessions, who is presiding over the case, said.

Ms. Öztürk’s release follows six weeks of detention in Louisiana after she was taken into custody by masked, plainclothes immigration authorities outside her Somerville residence on March 25, after the Trump administration revoked her visa following her co-authorship a year prior of an opinion piece in the Tufts University student newspaper.

In a quote to CBS News, ECBAWM Associate Sonya Levitova said, “The government sent masked, plainclothes agents to kidnap Rümeysa off the street and lock her up for writing an op-ed. She has been a political prisoner for six weeks. Now that she’s free and can resume her studies and rejoin her community at Tufts, we look forward to seeing the government in court to vindicate Rümeysa’s rights in full.”

ECBAWM is proud to support Ms. Özturk in her fight for freedom and others whose First and Fifth Amendment rights are under threat.

Press:

“Rumeysa Ozturk released by ICE after judge orders Tufts student to be freed on bail,” CBS News
“Tufts Student Returns to Massachusetts After 6 Weeks in Immigration Detention,” NYTimes
“Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk back in Boston after release from Louisiana detention center,” PBS News
“Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk freed from immigration detention,” NPR