Letter from Ron Bishop

Government Has Overstepped

On the evening of Tuesday, March 25, 2025, doctoral student Rumeysa Öztürk was accosted by strangers outside her apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts. A video of the event shows that Department of Homeland Security agents wearing hoodies and masks did not identify themselves verbally or with badges until after she was restrained, her cell phone and other personal effects confiscated. No arrest warrant was presented, and she was not allowed to call an attorney or anyone else for over 24 hours. Agents ignored her request for medication, and she suffered an asthma attack while in their custody.

Ms. Öztürk had traveled here on a Fulbright scholarship and completed her master’s degree at Columbia University prior to starting her doctoral studies at Tufts University. Without notifying her, Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked her F-1 (student) visa on March 21. At the earliest opportunity, her attorney filed a petition challenging her detention and requesting that she not be moved from Massachusetts. A Boston circuit court judge ruled in favor of that petition to no avail: Ms. Öztürk was already locked up in Louisiana.