A federal judge in Massachusetts on Friday temporarily blocked the deportation of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University who was detained by U.S. immigration authorities earlier this week for expressing solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Ozturk, 30, a Fulbright Scholar pursuing a PhD, was violently arrested outside her Massachusetts home by masked federal agents on Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked her visa and accused her—without presenting any concrete evidence—of “engaging in activities in support of Hamas,” a baseless claim increasingly used to silence dissent against Israel’s atrocities.

Her arrest follows a broader campaign by the Trump administration to vilify and punish those who publicly oppose the apartheid policies of Israel and its indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza, which has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths, including thousands of children. Ozturk had co-authored an op-ed a year earlier criticizing Tufts University for ignoring student demands to divest from corporations complicit in Israel’s crimes and for failing to acknowledge what many are calling the genocide of the Palestinian people.

A federal lawsuit was filed immediately after her detention, and on Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) joined Ozturk’s legal team, arguing that her detention is a flagrant violation of her First Amendment rights to free speech and her right to due process under U.S. law.

Despite a Tuesday night court order prohibiting the removal of Ozturk from Massachusetts without advance notice, she was secretly transferred to a detention center in Louisiana—highlighting the lawless and punitive approach increasingly employed by immigration authorities against voices critical of U.S. foreign policy and its unwavering support for Israel.

In response, U.S. District Judge Denise Casper issued an emergency order halting her deportation and demanded a response from the Trump administration by Tuesday. Ozturk’s attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, hailed the ruling as “a first step in getting Rumeysa released and back home to Boston so she can continue her studies.”

President Trump has openly declared his intent to deport pro-Palestinian activists, smearing them as supporters of Hamas and labeling legitimate criticism of Israel’s war crimes as antisemitism. His administration has reportedly revoked the visas of over 300 foreign students and activists under similar pretexts.

This crackdown has been condemned by civil rights groups, legal experts, and even Jewish organizations who affirm that equating advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for terrorism is a dangerous and deliberate distortion aimed at crushing free speech and shielding Israel from accountability.

As Israel continues its genocidal war on Gaza with the full support of Washington, the U.S. government's persecution of students like Rumeysa Ozturk lays bare the hypocrisy of American claims to democratic values—where freedom of speech ends the moment it threatens U.S. complicity in crimes against humanity. (ILKHA)