Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley, Warren, Markey, Lawmakers Demand Explanation for “Disturbing Arrest and Detention” of Tufts Student Rumeysa Ozturk

Washington, D.C.- This week Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)joined Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and over 30 lawmakers in writing to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons, demanding information about the arrest and detention of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk and similar incidents across the country.

"The Administration should not summarily detain and deport legal residents of this country merely for expressing their political views. Absent compelling evidence justifying her detention and the revocation of her status, we call for Ozturk's release and the restoration of her visa," wrote the lawmakers.

A total of 34 lawmakers signed the letter. In addition to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Pressley, and Senators Warren and Markey, the following members joined in signing: Representatives Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Don Beyer (D-Va.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), along with Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

On March 25, 2025, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested on her way to a Ramadan dinner event by masked, plainclothes officers. Surveillance video shows officers loading Ozturk into an SUV and departing in three unmarked vehicles. Bystanders observed that the incident "looked like a kidnapping."

For almost 24 hours, Ozturk's location was unknown and her lawyer could not locate her. On the afternoon of March 26, more than twelve hours after a district court judge ordered the federal government not to remove Ozturk from Massachusetts without at least 48 hours' notice, ICE's locator system was updated to show that she was being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.

This arrest appears to be one of the latest examples in a stringof ICE arrestsof university studentswith valid green cards and visas, seemingly on the basis of their political views. Ozturk was one of four authors of a 2024 op-ed in the Tufts student paper, which called for the university to "engage with and actualize" Israel- and Palestine-related resolutions passed by the university's Student Senate.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has statedthat the Administration will deny visas to those who "participate in that sort of activity," referring to protest movements on campuses. Following Ozturk's arrest, Tufts was informed that her "visa ha[d] been terminated" - similar to other recent cases in which ICE agents have declared, without a judicial or administrative hearing, that they were "terminating" or "revoking" students' green cards and visas.

The lawmakers asked the Departments of Homeland Security and State, along with ICE, to provide explanations for Ozturk's arrest and visa revocation; her transportation to Louisiana despite a court order; officials' use of unmarked vehicles, face coverings, and plain clothing; the federal government's policies for terminating a student's visa without a request from a university; and more.

Earlier this month, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez joined NYS Assemblymember Claire Valdez (D-37) and NYC Council Member Alexa Avilés (D-38) in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem calling for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil. The Congresswoman also joined over 100 House Democrats in sending a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Department of State Secretary Marco Rubio to express grave concerns about the Trump administration's attack on Mahmoud Khalil's First Amendment right to free speech.

The full letter is available here.