Hundreds of people in Massachusetts have protested against the detention of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, by the US immigration authorities following her criticism of Israel.

On Wednesday, protesters, carrying signs that read: "Free Rumeysa," and "We stand with Rumeysa," called for her immediate release.

Ozturk was arrested late Tuesday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, as she was heading to an iftar dinner, according to her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai.

She was taken into custody by masked federal agents in broad daylight, with authorities claiming she engaged in activities supporting the Palestinian group Hamas — an allegation her family and advocates strongly deny.

Rising pressure on pro-Palestinian students, academics

Her detention follows a campaign by Canary Mission after she co-authored an op-ed in The Tufts Daily in 2024, urging the school to recognise the Palestinian genocide and divest from companies with ties to Israel.

"The university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event," Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said.

"From what we have been told subsequently, the student’s visa status has been terminated, and we seek to confirm whether that information is true."

Ozturk’s detention also comes amid the Trump administration's widespread crackdown on pro-Palestinian students and academics, including Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil and Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri.