Rumeysa Ozturk returned to Massachusetts on Saturday evening, harboring joy and gratitude at the end of the six-week Odyssey's federal custody.
The flight carrying Ozturk, a Turkish citizen studying at Tufts University on a student visa, landed at Boston Logan International Airport the day after a federal judge in Vermont ordered him to be released from Louisiana's detention facility soon.
Speaking in the airport room, she flashed a flash of smiles, looking happy and relaxed, but sometimes visibly emotional. Oztzurk thanked his supporters for kindness and expressed his love for the country that has imprisoned her and is still trying to deport her.
“America is the world's greatest democracy,” she says, “I believe in the American system of justice.”
Ozturk, a fifth-year doctoral student, was among more than 1,000 international students facing deportation after their visas were cancelled by the federal government. The move came when the Trump administration escalated its attack on higher education and said its goal was to eradicate anti-Semitism.
Oztzrk had written an opinion piece in the student newspaper criticizing the university's response to Palestinian demands. Her supporters denied that she was an anti-Semitic and said she was taken into custody in retaliation for her speech in violation of the initial amendment.
On Saturday, her friend and former professor bouncing between uplifting and pain at her release, Ozturk, a Fulbright scholar known as a loyalist who specializes in children's media and studied Rule, was taken into custody in the first place.
Gallery Kaplan, who has known Ozturk for 10 years, drove 11 hours to see her at the airport and was excited and emotional. When she finally saw her, she said all she could do was cry.
Kaplan said he was shocked that Ozturk had to endure, and described her friend in a kind and soft manner, adding, “She has no bones to hate.” Kaplan said she and her other friends were scared. If this could happen to Oztulk, she said, “This could happen by saying something to any of us.”
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge William K. Session III of the Vermont District said Ozturk's detention would potentially cool “the speeches of millions of individuals in this country that are not citizens.” The Judge Session, appointing former President Clinton, said the government, accusing Ozteruk of “engaging in his work in favor of Hamas,” did not introduce any evidence other than the Palestinian opinion essay co-authored by Ozteruk.
Messages left to the Department of Homeland Security were not immediately returned. In response to the previous developments in Oztzlk's case this week, a spokesperson said “visas are a privilege, not a right,” and “continue to fight for the arrest, detention and removal of unrighteous aliens in this country.”
In late April, the Trump administration suddenly restored the ability of thousands of international students to legally study in the country, but argued that their legal status could end in the future. Despite that decision, Ozturk was in custody until Friday.
“My sister – our sister Lu Mesa welcomes you with open arms,” said airport president Ayana Presley. She joined Senator Edward J. Markey in greeting Ozturk. “We never forgot about you. You are loved, you will be seen, and we will not rest until you are completely innocent, your visa will be restored and you will be free to continue your research and your service to your community.”
Ozturk's arrest in March was arrested on surveillance footage, eliciting criticism from students, university leaders and immigration advocates across the country. She was walking down the sidewalk in Somerville, Massachusetts, surrounded by armed immigration agents and whisked into a van. She was driven to New Hampshire and then Vermont and flew to federal detention facilities in Louisiana.
While in custody, Oztzurku testified that she had experienced an increasingly serious asthma attack. First I'm on a plane to Louisiana. When she asked for treatment, she said, the detention center medical staff responded condescendingly. She said she was trapped by 23 other women in a space targeting 14 people.
On Saturday, Ozturk thanked her friends for helping her through her experience. Some have read books to her over the phone and sent many letters of support. She said the advisor sent Ozturk's paper proposal to the detention facility.
“So much love,” Oztzurku said.
She also expressed concern about immigrants who are still being held at the facility. “Don't forget all the wonderful women,” she said.
Reyan Birge, a professor of psychology in Northeastern, knew Ozturk when he was an undergraduate in Turkey.
I explained an emotional roller coaster over the past six weeks, starting with disbelief that her former student had been arrested. She said Ozteruk was “one of the best students I've ever had.” Dr. Bilge logged in to each court hearing following all developments in the case, and was hit with another shock at the hearing on Friday.
“You heard the words you've been waiting for so long to hear,” she said in a phone interview. “But at the same time, you really want to pinch yourself. Is that true? Will they allow her to leave?”
Ozturk's release was actually delayed when the government tried to get her to wear ankle monitors, prompting her to issue a second session on Friday so that she would be released without it.
Despite Ozturk being released, government lawyers on Friday said deportation against her would continue in immigration court. But her long-term outlook is considered to be more advantageous to her than before federal courts released her, experts said.
Whatever comes next, and despite experience over the past six weeks, Ozturk appeared to have hope on Saturday.
“I still believe in the values we share,” she said.
