BOSTON — “Thank you, everyone, for all your support and love.”
A message of appreciation from Rumeysa Ozturk as she returned to Massachusetts after 45 days at an ice detention facility in rural Louisiana.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley welcomed Ozturk back to Massachusetts.
“Rumeysa, my sister, our sister, we welcome you home.”
On Saturday night, Ozturk was joined by her legal team, Massachusetts Politicians, and members of the ACLU, for a non-traditional homecoming upon her arrival at Logan International Airport.
Ozturk addressed journalists there.
“This has been a really difficult time for me,” Ozturk said, “in the last 45 days, I lost both my freedom and also my education.”
In late March, ICE agents apprehended the Tufts University student from the streets of Boston
The federal government cites a pro-Palestine article that she co-wrote in a student newspaper for her detainment.
One of Ozturk’s attorneys, Mahsa Khabobai, called out the government for its actions toward her.
“I call on the government to focus their resources on actual threats to our nation,” said Khabobai,, “not talented international students international scholars, immigrants who have been wrongly vilified... This homecoming is only the beginning of the fight.”
Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley are also issuing a warning to all Americans that Ozturk’s case should be a wake-up call that our constitutional rights could be on the line.
“Let us not be fooled into thinking that we are different from Rumeysa, that what she has had to endure could never happen to any of the rest of us.”
But despite the concern and the big unknown of what’s ahead for Ozturk, and the many others who have been detained by ICE, a message of faith.
“America is the greatest democracy in the world, and I believe in those values that we share.”
In response to Ozturk’s release, the Department of Homeland Security tells Boston 25 news that Friday’s federal ruling “does not prevent her continued detention.
Meanwhile, Ozturk still faces removal from the United States. Her attorneys say there are hearings scheduled later this month.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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