An international student at Tufts University says the arrest of graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk has him careful about his movements around the area, calling it unprecedented fear.
“I’m scared, my parents are scared,” said the student who did not want to be identified.
Ozturk, an international student on a visa, was handcuffed and taken away by plainclothes federal agents late Tuesday afternoon, some wearing masks. Some in the community are calling it a kidnapping.
“You come to a country where you’re told there’s rule of law, and certain guaranteed constitutional rights for everyone on the land, and you see what seems like flagrant violations of that happening, it’s natural that I’d be pretty scared,” the student said.
The Department of Homeland Security claims Ozturk supports the activities of Hamas, without providing any evidence.
Immigration attorney on arrest
Immigration attorney Stephen Roth calls it unusual to remove her from Massachusetts or New England, and believes it was deliberate to send her to Louisiana.
“I believe it is a way for them to separate her from her attorney, from her friends, from her family and her ability to have contact with people in her jurisdiction who are able to help her,” Roth told WBZ.
Her attorney has appealed to the courts for her return.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell says the federal government refuses to answer many questions about a student here lawfully.
“Where was she in the first 24 hours, why is she being detained?” Campbell said. “What are the allegations, has she violated any laws, does she have a criminal record?”
International students wary
Tufts has reminded international students to carry documentation with them. The student who spoke with WBZ says the arrest has him rethinking his future plans for graduate studies in the U.S.
“I feel like I have to suppress and sort of lay low in public, but at least on campus I haven’t felt that I needed to,” the student said. “Everybody I’ve spoken to has been really supportive and understanding of the situation and that’s been a silver lining.”
Demonstrations in support of Ozturk have drawn hundreds, but Roth says it’s that kind of outspokenness that international students now must be wary of.
“If you are out there protesting, posting online, then yes you are now what I believe to be a target by the United States government, even though your right to free speech is protected by the First Amendment,” Roth said.
