After Long Legal Battle Tufts University Grad Student Accused of Supporting Hamas Self-Deports Back to Turkey
While attending Tufts University, Rumeysa Ozturk, a medical graduate student from Turkey, co-authored an anti- Israel op-ed and was accused of supporting the Hamas terrorist group. Now, after a lengthy legal battle with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Ozturk has self-deported back to Turkey.
In March 2025, the State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio quietly revoked her valid F-1 student visa.
Later, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents apprehended the Turkish national outside her Massachusetts residence.
Masked ICE officers swiftly moved in on the terrorist sympathizer, confiscating her belongings and placing her in handcuffs after a months-long DHS investigation revealed that she had “engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for murdering innocent civilians, including Americans.
“Rumeysa Ozturk is a Turkish national and Tufts University graduate student, granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa. DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans,” a DHS spokesperson told ABC News.
“A visa is a privilege not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security.”
Later, a federal judge in Massachusetts, Denise Casper, ordered that Ozturk not be removed from the U.S. without court approval.
After a flurry of multi-state transfers and hearings addressing jurisdiction and the lawfulness of her detention, an immigration judge initially denied bond, citing potential danger to the community.
But in May 2025, U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III (Vermont) ordered her immediate release on bail, with no travel restrictions beyond certain areas. She returned to Massachusetts shortly after.
In December 2025, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that her Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) record was wrongfully terminated and must be reinstated, allowing her to resume her research, teaching, and full participation in her PhD program at Tufts.
Ozturk completed and received her PhD from Tufts in February.
In February, an immigration judge terminated removal/deportation proceedings against her, determining that the DHS lacked legal grounds to deport her.
The DOJ, however, signaled continued attempts to deport Ozturk.
The Trump administration is moving ahead with its attempts to deport Rumeysa Ozturk and Mohsen Mahdawi, after winning the Third Circuit case last week against Mahmoud Khalil: https://t.co/9p0FVlDxbu pic.twitter.com/jlQ7xvORtm
— Erik Uebelacker (@Uebey) January 23, 2026
Rather than continue the legal battle, Fox News reports that late Thursday night, Ozturk self-deported from the U.S. on a flight to Istanbul, Turkey.
The fallout from this immigration case and others has prompted President Trump to make changes.
In December, he fired eight immigration judges in New York City.
Earlier in April, Trump fired six more immigration judges for blocking deportations, including two of the immigration judges who blocked the deportation of Ozturk and another pro-Palestinian activist.
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