Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk arrived at Logan Airport Saturday night, returning to Boston six weeks after immigration agents took her to a Louisiana detention center and the day after a Vermont federal judge ordered her release.
Öztürk, dressed in green, approached a podium at the terminal, flanked by her lawyers and members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation. She said she was relieved to be home and grateful for the support of her community — and was remarkably upbeat after weeks in a crowded cell, suffering asthma attacks and worried about finishing her doctoral studies.
“America is the greatest democracy in the world and I believe in those values that we share,” she said. “I have faith in the American system of justice.”
@wbur Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk arrived at Logan Airport Saturday night, returning to Boston six weeks after immigration agents took her to a Louisiana detention center and the day after a Vermont federal judge ordered her release. Öztürk, dressed in green, approached a podium at the terminal, flanked by her lawyers and members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation. She said she was relieved to be home and grateful for the support of her community — and was remarkably upbeat after weeks in a crowded cell, suffering asthma attacks and worried about finishing her doctoral studies. "America is the greatest democracy in the world and I believe in those values that we share," she said. "I have faith in the American system of justice." 📝Jesús Marrero Suárez/WBUR 🎥 Meghan B. Kelly/WBUR♬ original sound - WBUR - WBUR
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who was part of a group that visited Öztürk during her detention, welcomed the doctoral student home “with open arms.”
“We never forgot about you,” she said. “You are loved. You are seen. And we will not rest until you are fully exonerated — your visa is restored.”
Sen. Ed Markey was also on hand to greet Öztürk.
“You have made millions and millions of people across our country so proud of the way you have fought, you have resisted, you have stood up to injustice,” he said.
Öztürk is due back in federal court in Vermont later this month, to pursue her case that she was unlawfully detained. U.S. District Judge William Sessions, in his order for her release Friday, indicated that he took seriously claims the government had violated Öztürk’s rights to due process and free speech.
Agents arrested Öztürk shortly after the government revoked her visa, which she said happened without notice. Immigration officials later said that an opinion piece critical of Israel that Öztürk co-wrote for the Tufts newspaper “demonstrated her involvement in organizations that ‘may undermine U.S. foreign policy.’ ”
Sessions in court Friday said he had received no evidence to that effect from the government, other than the opinion piece itself.
The government still aims to deport Öztürk. Her case is being widely watched amid the Trump administration’s targeting of international students for exercising the First Amendment rights central to this country’s constitution.
As she wrapped up her remarks, Öztürk spoke of the women with whom she shared a cell in Louisiana.
“Please don’t forget about all these wonderful women in the immigration detention system,” she said. “I was so tired of witnessing cries and pain that can be all preventable.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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