Immigration Court Stops Government From Deporting Tufts Student Rumesya Ozturk: Report

SOMERVILLE, MA — A United States Immigration has shot down President Donald Trump and his administration’s attempt to deport a Turkish Tufts University Ph.D student, according to a report from NBC News.

Rumesya Ozturk, 30, was detained near her off-campus home on March 25, 2025 while on her way to meet with friends. Surveillance video shows multiple masked people from Immigration and Customs Enforcement approaching Ozturk before handcuffing and walking her toward an unmarked vehicle. According to Ozturk’s attorney Mahsa Khanbabai, her client had a valid visa as a PhD student.
The court terminated the government's removal proceedings on Thursday, Jan. 29, finding that the government has not met its burden in proving that the student studying children's relationship to social media should be deported.

The Trump administration used a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that allows the secretary of state to deport noncitizens if it is determined their presence would result in “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States” in an effort to deport Ozturk, however it was not enough.

Ozturk said in a statement that she is relieved by the court’s decision, however the damage ICE has done to her and other people can never be fully undone.

Ozturk was reportedly sought out by ICE due to her involvement in an Op-ed in the Tufts Daily that was critical of the Israeli government.

Read more at NBC News.

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