BOSTON: A federal judge in Massachusetts on Friday temporarily barred the deportation of a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, who voiced support for Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza and was detained by US immigration officials this week.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken into custody by US immigration authorities near her Massachusetts home on Tuesday, according to a video showing the arrest by masked federal agents. US officials revoked her visa.
The US department of homeland security has accused Ozturk, without providing evidence, of “engaging in activities in support of Hamas,” a group which the US government categorises as a “foreign terrorist organisation.”