♫Where at least I know I’m free?
Trump 2.0 detained a Syrian Columbia University student activist for speaking out against the Gaza bombing, and a South Korean as well. They detained a Lebanese doctor over alleged photos of a Hezbollah leader on her phone, and an Indian post-doctoral fellow over his American wife’s alleged “ties with Hamas.” Ice detained multiple Germans, plus a Canadian entrepreneur trying to renew her work visa. They blocked a Canadian professor from entering the U.S., and a French scientist over text messages criticizing Trump policies.
Now a Turkish student from Tufts University, detained Tuesday, allegedly over a joint student op-ed calling for the university to divest from companies directly tied to Israel (per NBC Boston).
In the case of Tufts student, Rumeysa Ozturk, once again the Trump administration may have defied a court order not to remove her from her state:
Ozturk’s attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Immigration Law, said she maintained a valid F-1 visa – that’s now been terminated.
On Tuesday, a federal court judge ordered that Ozturk not be removed from Massachusetts without notice. Yet, according to her attorney, they couldn’t locate her for hours. It wasn’t immediately clear when she was moved to Louisiana — if it was before or after the judge’s order blocking her removal. Khanbabi detailed her client’s version of events in a statement:
“Over twenty-four hours after her arrest, Rumeysa was processed at her final detention facility after being driven to multiple government offices in New England and flown to Louisiana on early Wednesday morning. Throughout that period of time, my client was not charged or given the opportunity to speak with a lawyer. I had the opportunity to speak with Rumeysa on Thursday late night and she was grateful to finally get an explanation of what was happening to her and to learn of all the community support she has.”
She goes on to say that Ozturk has not been charged with any crime and that it appears she was targeted based on her free speech.
Let’s put “free speech” in quotes.
Add an Iranian doctoral student at University of Alabama, also detained on Tuesday:
The Crimson White, the university’s newspaper, reported that the man is Iranian national Alireza Doroudi, a PhD candidate studying mechanical engineering. He was arrested at home at 5 a.m. ET Tuesday, the newspaper reported.
According to records available on ICE’s website, Doroudi is currently being held in a “detention facility.”
It is not clear why he was detained, what charges he may face, or if he has retained a lawyer. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Celebrating these disappearances is Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, who filmed a warning in front of hundreds of caged prisoners at a high-security El Salvador prison. Alleged Venezuelan gang members — and who knows who else — have been disappeared there without due process in apparent violation of a federal court order. The Trump 2.0 administration refused to supply more details of their removal, essentially telling the court to pound sand.
Is ICE kidnapping U.S. citizens over protected speech Trump 2.0 dislikes yet?
Will ICE disappear us in chains to Louisiana too?
Is Lee Greenwood still proud that at least he’s free?
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