On Tuesday, US authorities arrested and revoked the visa of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish Fulbright Scholar at Tufts University, over her pro-Palestine activism. She was detained in Massachusetts and later transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana. The Trump administration alleges she engaged in activities supporting Hamas, though no concrete evidence has been provided.
Ozturk is not the only student targeted. Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student and green card holder, was arrested on March 8 under similar allegations. Authorities claim he has ties to Hamas, but activists argue there is no proof. Badar Khan Suri, an Indian postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown, was also detained in Virginia under accusations of supporting Hamas, despite a lack of evidence.
Other students facing deportation include Yunseo Chung, a Korean-American Columbia student who filed a lawsuit to halt her removal, and Momodou Taal, a UK-Gambian doctoral candidate at Cornell, who was suspended for participating in pro-Palestine protests.
The crackdown follows Trump’s executive orders targeting international students and activists accused of spreading anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas rhetoric. Critics argue this is an attack on free speech, with protests erupting nationwide in response. Civil rights groups and student organizations are demanding their immediate release, calling the detentions unjust and politically motivated.
