US Senator Bernie Sanders has denounced the arrest of a Turkish PhD student, calling it part of President Donald Trump’s "move toward authoritarianism."
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Fulbright scholar, was detained late on Tuesday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, while heading to an iftar dinner, her lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai said.
A video circulating online shows masked agents handcuffing her and confiscating her phone.
Her arrest follows the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on pro-Palestine activists and academics.
"Why? She wrote an op-ed critical of Israel's war against the Palestinian people," Sanders said on X, regarding Ozturk's arrest.
He urged action against what he called Trump’s "political persecution of dissidents."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Thursday that Ozturk’s student visa had been revoked, saying visas are not granted for "social activism" that disrupts university campuses. He provided no evidence linking her to any violent activity and said some 300 foreign student visas have been cancelled so far.
Ozturk’s supporters say she was targeted after a pro-Israel website, Canary Mission, highlighted an op-ed she co-authored with three other writers in criticising Israel.
The US has cancelled visas of more than 300 students as a clampdown on anti-Israel activism sweeps American campuses, the Secretary of State confirms.
Lawyer says Turkish student 'abducted'
Meanwhile, Khanbabai said her client had been unlawfully abducted after a video surfaced on social media showing Ozturk being detained by masked, plain-clothed figures near Tufts University in Massachusetts.
The video quickly went viral as a symbol driving the fear and anger gripping US campuses as Trump clamps down on students with anti-genocide views.
Ozturk had penned an op-ed in a student newspaper decrying Israel's military invasion of Gaza and, although she had a valid student visa, is now being held pending her deportation.
Immigration lawyer Khanbabai complained that Ozturk had been taken to a detention center in the southern state of Louisiana, despite a court order saying that she remain in Massachusetts.
"Masked DHS agents unlawfully arrested my client," she said, referring to the Department of Homeland Security and adding that 24 hours after her arrest on Tuesday morning, Ozturk was transferred to Louisiana.
"Throughout that period of time, my client was not charged or given the opportunity to speak with a lawyer," Khanbabia said.
"I had the opportunity to speak with Rumeysa late on Wednesday night and she was grateful to finally get an explanation of what was happening to her."
The disturbing video of PhD student Ozturk's arrest has made her one of the most prominent victims of Trump's immigration crackdown. Khanbabai added: "Rumeysa has not been accused of committing any crime and DHS has not produced any evidence that she was engaged in any unlawful activities."
"It appears the only thing Rumeysa is being targeted for is her right to free speech."
Her arrest appears to be part of Trump’s pledge to deport students who, he says, engage in "pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity," a label the administration has applied broadly to those who criticise US ally Israel and protest its genocide in Gaza.
Earlier this month, immigration enforcement agents arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a legal US resident and Palestinian activist who played a prominent part in protests at Columbia last year. He is now facing possible deportation.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney specialist from Lebanon who was due to start as an assistant professor at Brown University, was deported earlier this month — after a federal judge ordered that she not be removed until a hearing could be held.
Homeland Security officials said Alawieh was deported, despite having a US visa, alleging she supported a Hezbollah leader.
A University of Alabama student has also been detained by ICE, the university confirmed.
The Crimson White, the student newspaper, reported that Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student from Iran studying mechanical engineering, had been detained.
