A PhD student who was targeted for deportation under President Donald Trump has chosen to return to his hometown of Turkiye, citing the “state violence and hostility” he faced in the United States.
Rumeisa Ozturk made the announcement Friday through the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) after nearly a year of legal battles with the Trump administration.
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“The time taken away from me by the U.S. government is not just mine, it belongs to the children and young people I have dedicated my life to championing,” said Ozturk, who received her doctorate in child studies and human development in February.
Ozturk’s case was one of the most high-profile cases in which the Trump administration sought to punish international students for being pro-Palestinian.
Surveillance video of Ozturk’s arrest went viral in late March 2025, showing six plainclothes immigration agents suddenly surrounding Ozturk on the street outside his Massachusetts apartment as he departed to break his fast at the end of Ramadan.
Video footage shows the co-pilot grabbing 30-year-old Ozturk by the hand as she screams. As she was being handcuffed, a concerned passerby asked the officers, who were wearing hoodies, sunglasses and masks, “How do we know this is the police?”
Ozturk has no criminal history. She was apparently targeted because of her decision to co-sign an opinion column in the student newspaper, The Tufts Daily, along with three other students.
The article called on the university’s president to acknowledge Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subsequently accused her of “engaging in activities in support of Hamas,” although there is no evidence to support that claim.
The Trump administration cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which authorizes the secretary of state to remove lawful immigration documents from foreign nationals if the removal is deemed to cause “potentially significant adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
However, the breadth of that authority continues to be challenged in court.
Targeting academics and students
Ozturk was part of the first wave of deportations carried out by the Trump administration against pro-Palestinian academics, starting with Columbia University protest leader Mahmoud Khalil on March 8, 2025.
Before moving forward with the deportations, President Trump had indicated that he considered pro-Palestinian activities to be anti-Semitic. He promised to crack down on the widespread protests that have erupted on American campuses in the wake of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
On January 29, nine days after being sworn into office for his second term, President Trump issued an executive order stating that he would use “all appropriate legal means available to us to prosecute, remove, or hold accountable” those he deems anti-Semites.
However, legal experts point out that protesting and writing op-eds are speech protected by the First Amendment.
Ozturk’s arrest ultimately sparked a legal odyssey that lasted until this week.
Immediately after his arrest on March 25, 2025, Ozturk was transferred to New Hampshire and then to Vermont, where he spent the night in a detention center run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Then, early the next morning, she was flown to Louisiana, where she was held in ICE custody for 45 days.
In a subsequent Vanity Fair article, she described poor conditions at the detention center, including overcrowding, inadequate food, lack of medical care, and 24-hour lighting that interfered with sleep. She said her asthma attacks worsened in Louisiana’s hot, humid air.
Her lawyer filed a writ of habeas corpus in Vermont federal court, arguing that her detention was unlawful, and she was finally released on May 9.
However, her legal proceedings continued for several months afterwards. In February, an immigration judge rejected Ozturk’s deportation proceedings, but the Trump administration appealed.
The ACLU announced this week that Ozturk’s legal team had reached a settlement with the Trump administration that rejected the push for deportation. The administration also acknowledged that Ozturk remained in the United States legally throughout his stay.
In exchange, Ozturk will be allowed to leave for Turkiye without intervention from the Department of Homeland Security.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Ozturk explained that countries should understand that hosting international scholars is a “privilege.” She also expressed support for other academics who are facing livelihood and job insecurity.
“I stand firmly in solidarity with the academic community in the United States and elsewhere who live in fear for their scholarship, and with other academics who are being punished for their courageous advocacy on behalf of Palestine,” she said.
She added that she would like to put her 13 years of study to good use in her hometown of Turkiye.
“I have chosen to return as scheduled to continue my career as a women’s academic without wasting any further time experiencing the state violence and hostility I experienced in the United States,” she wrote.
“All just to co-sign an editorial defending Palestinian rights.”
