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Tufts PhD Student Detained by DHS

Tufts Graduate Student Detained by Federal Immigration Authorities

Federal immigration authorities detained a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, adding to the list of international students targeted by the Trump administration.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Ph.D. student, was taken into custody Tuesday night outside her off-campus apartment building in Somerville, Mass., according to Tufts and court records. She was on her way to meet friends and break her fast for Ramadan when she was detained, her lawyer said.

Federal immigration authorities detain Tufts graduate student

Her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, has filed a habeas petition in Massachusetts federal court for Ozturk to be released from detention. The student, Rumeysa Ozturk, is student at the Tufts’s doctoral program for Child Study and Human Development, according to her LinkedIn, and graduated with a master’s degree from the Teachers College at Columbia University. Federal immigration authorities late Tuesday detained a Tufts PhD student who is a Turkish national, her attorney and community activists said.