“The Doxxing-to-Deportation Pipeline”: Update on Abduction & Jailing of Tufts Student Rümeysa Öztürk

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

A federal judge has ordered the Turkish national, Tufts University Ph.D. student Rümeysa Öztürk to be transferred to Vermont no later than May 1st, as she seeks to challenge what her lawyers call her unconstitutional detention in an ICE jail in Louisiana. That order came Friday and followed a separate hearing last Wednesday when an immigration judge denied bond for Rümeysa, declaring her to be a potential so-called danger to the community.

Rümeysa, who is from Turkey, was arrested for co-authoring a student op-ed on Tufts’ response to Gaza solidarity protests on campus. Rümeysa Öztürk is a doctoral candidate in the school’s Department of Child Study and Human Development and research assistant at Tufts’ Children’s Television Project. She’s a former Fulbright scholar.

On March 25th, masked, plainclothes immigration agents snatched her from the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts, outside Tufts. Surveillance video from a nearby house shows agents approaching her on the streets near her home. In the video, you can hear her scream as the agents move to detain her.

RÜMEYSA ÖZTÜRK: [inaudible]

AMY GOODMAN: Apparently, she said something like, “I’m calling the police,” and they said something like they are the police.

The Washington Post reports the State Department found no evidence linking Rümeysa Öztürk to antisemitic activities or public statements in support of terrorism. The Washington Post reports a State Department memo determined Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not have sufficient grounds for revoking her visa, contradicting public accusations made by the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, the Tufts University Democrats and Republicans have released a joint statement condemning the Trump administration’s arrest and detention of Rümeysa and its overall attack on international students and their right to free speech.

As she awaits transfer to Vermont, Rümeysa is jailed at a privately run ICE jail in Louisiana.

For more, we’re joined by one of Rümeysa’s attorneys, Mudassar Toppa, staff attorney at CLEAR, a legal nonprofit clinic at CUNY School of Law.

Mudassar, welcome to Democracy Now! Can you explain exactly what happened? This is all also happening as another judge ruled that something like 130 international students have to have their visas reinstated.

MUDASSAR TOPPA: Yes. Thank you, Amy, for having me.

So, there’s two parallel tracks in Ms. Öztürk’s case. There’s the immigration proceedings that you mentioned, that involved this bond proceeding, that happened last Wednesday, where the immigration judge found that based on this one-paragraph memo from the State Department that says that — you know, the only evidence that’s cited is this op-ed that she co-authored that references a common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus, as supporting a finding that she was a danger to her community or a flight risk.

And so, those proceedings are happening on a parallel track to the habeas proceedings that are happening in federal court. And Ms. Öztürk’s initial petition was filed in the District Court of Massachusetts. That was eventually transferred to the district of Vermont, because at the time that petition was filed, that’s where she was. And the court heard arguments on the government’s motion to dismiss and our motion for bail and for Ms. Öztürk’s release. And this last Friday, the court rejected the government’s arguments and held that it did have jurisdiction to hear her claims.

And so, Ms. Öztürk’s transfer has now been ordered. She’s been ordered to be transferred back to Vermont. And the court has also ordered a bail hearing to happen on May 9th and a hearing to hear the underlying merits of her habeas petition on May 22nd. And this is important at least with respect to cases involving ideological retaliation against students for their advocacy for Palestinian human rights. This is the first federal court that’s actually cited has jurisdiction to hear these claims and is moving on to that phase of the process.

And with respect to, you know, the temporary restraining orders that have been handed down in other courts regarding visa revocations writ large, those are happening not just in Georgia, but throughout the country. As far as I’m aware, I think there have been at least six TROs issued, and some of those have extended beyond just the individual plaintiffs in those cases.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you: This whole issue of her student issue being revoked on March 21st without even her knowledge, could you talk about that and the implications of that for other international students?

MUDASSAR TOPPA: Yeah, it’s really chilling, you know? So, the same memo that the government submits in Ms. Öztürk’s removal case, this one-paragraph memo from the State Department, it has this underlined portion, and this is underlined by the government itself, that says, “Due to ongoing ICE operational security, this revocation will be silent.” And this is completely abnormal. The government is normally going to notify students that there’s been a revocation. Generally, revocations will take place because of, you know, some issues regarding, like, the student perhaps not maintaining a full course load or a criminal offense that renders them unable to maintain their student status. So, typically, students are given notice, and they’re given the opportunity to pursue other avenues of relief potentially, you know, seeking a different type of visa or self-deportation, you know, just leaving the country. In this case, the government was clear: It was intending to abduct Mr. Öztürk. They didn’t want her to know that her visa was revoked, and four days later, they did exactly what they planned and abducted her in broad daylight in a street in Massachusetts.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And could you talk about the role of Canary Mission and others like it in, essentially, identifying for the government people that they should be deporting?

MUDASSAR TOPPA: Yeah, and, you know, I think at this point there’s been a clear connection that we can draw — right? — from the doxxing organizations, the pro-Israeli doxxing organizations. And there is a clear doxxing-to-deportation pipeline that’s taking place.

And in Ms. Öztürk’s case, it’s even more apparent, because Ms. Öztürk was not a known organizer or advocate for any cause, really. And Ms. Öztürk’s sole sort of publicly identifiable association to the movement against the genocide and the movement for Palestinian human rights was this co-authored op-ed in her school newspaper that was really just asking the university to respect the wishes and the vote of the student Senate. And, you know, all of the sudden, in February of 2025, almost a year after she’s written — she’s co-written this op-ed, Canary Mission publishes a page on her, doxxing her and alleging that she’s engaged in antisemitic behavior because of this co-authored op-ed. And less than a month later, she’s abducted by ICE.

And so, it’s very chilling that the government seems to be taking their marching orders from these private doxxing organizations with mysterious funding and backing. And I think it underscores why the government’s actions are simply unconscionable.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’ll continue to cover Rümeysa’s case, see if they will send her back to Vermont, where the masked agents drove her to before sending her to Louisiana. Mudassar Toppa, thanks so much for being with us, one of the attorneys for Rümeysa Öztürk, a staff attorney at CLEAR, a legal clinic at CUNY School of Law. Again, the Democrats and Republicans at Tufts sent a joint letter objecting to her treatment, as did Tufts University.

Next up, 70 years ago this week, the historic anti-colonial Bandung Conference took place. We’ll speak to Vijay Prashad in Chile. Stay with us.

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AMY GOODMAN: “We’re in the Same Boat, Brother” by Lead Belly. And speaking of music, on Friday, we’ll be bringing you an extended interview with the great director Ryan Coogler. His new film, just out, Sinners.