Turkish student at Tufts University returns to Boston after release from Louisiana detention center

Join us live at Logan to hear from Rümeysa Öztürk upon her long overdue return home. https://t.co/MMMcml4T4G

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) May 10, 2025

A federal judge ordered the release of Ozturk on Friday, pending a final decision on her claim that she was illegally detained by the Trump administration for criticizing her school’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war.

A 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville. (Photo: AP)

The Turkish student thanked her supporters, including professors and students, who sent her letters in the detention centre and also reminded them of hundreds of other women who remained in the detention camp.

“America is the greatest democracy in the world. I have faith in the American system of justice,” Ozturk said, Reuters reported.

Ozturk, the 30-year-old PhD student from Turkey, was arrested on March 25 by masked individuals from the streets of the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts, near her home as the US Department of State had revoked her student visa.

US District Judge William Sessions in Vermont had stated in the judgement that Ozturk be released on her own recognizance with no travel restrictions, and that the Turkish student was not a danger to the community or a flight risk. The judge added that he might amend the release order to consider any conditions by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).