FAFP

In the tradition of the op-ed that prompted the government's scandalous effort to deport Rümeysa Öztürk (link in next post), the Tufts Daily has published a new letter from alumni calling on Tufts to take specific steps in response to Israel's actions in Gaza:
www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2025...

"Tufts still has time to do the right thing. It’s not too late to speak out and support concrete, actionable steps going forward. We call upon Tufts to live up to its ideals.. We will act as our moral obligation demands. We only hope Tufts acts in kind." Our op-ed: www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2025...

Email to Tufts Administration (Sent on June 5th 2025) June 5, 2025 To: The Administration, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155 Subject: Urging Tufts to Enjoin the Government from Banning the Admission of International Students As alumni of Tufts Universi...

FAFP urges the Tufts administration to protect members of our community and to enjoin the government from banning the admission of international students.

Read and share our letter: tinyurl.com/TuftsJuneLet...

So therefore the court finds that she does not pose danger to community or present risk of flight.

THE COURT ORDERS THE GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE OZTURK FROM CUSTODY IMMEDIATELY.

"Ms. Ozturk is free to return to her home in Massachusetts."

Judge Sessions orders Rümeysa released immediately with no travel restrictions.

**** Judge Sessions GRANTS BAIL/RELEASE to Rümeysa Öztürk: "The court finds that [Rümeysa Öztürk's] continued detention cannot stand."

Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk ordered freed from detention, pending immigration proceedings - The Boston Globe The administration moved to deport Öztürk because she co-authored an op-ed for the student newspaper that was critical of Israel.

Breaking news: A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts PhD candidate whose sudden arrest by federal immigration agents made national news.

HAPPENING NOW: Bail hearing for Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts PhD student who remains in detention in Louisiana after she was taken from her home in Massachusetts by masked immigration authorities.

The hearing is before a Vermont judge. Ozturk is appearing virtually from Louisiana.

HAPPENING NOW: Rümeysa Öztürk appears remotely for her bail hearing in Vermont federal court! 🧵

Good morning! Rümeysa Öztürk's bail hearing in Vermont federal court is set to start this morning at 10am.

I'll be listening via Zoom.

For my latest background thread, see: bsky.app/profile/john...
#ozturk

‘I’m afraid that something will happen to me.’ Detained Tufts student visited in Louisiana by Mass. lawmakers. - The Boston Globe At a press conference Tuesday, Senator Ed Markey and Representative Ayanna Pressley harshly condemned the treatment of Rümeysa Öztürk, a PhD student at Tufts University, and other detainees.

"The women that we just met in here, at Basile, have questioned if God has forgotten about them, if the world has forgotten about them." www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/22/n...

NEW: RÜMEYSA ÖZTÜRK prevails on the hard jurisdictional questions and Judge Sessions orders her brought to Vermont for further proceedings.

74-page opinion filed at 5:06:51 pm.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

They can sue on their own behalf. 1.They have a direct interest in preventing the removal of their international students, staff, & faculty for protected speech. 2. The chilling effect of this policy severely impairs universities' function as sites for the exchange of ideas & pursuit of knowledge.

Absolutely worth noting. This is a critical gap.

The AAUP/MESA litigation (w/ Knight Foundation) is vitally important. As is student litigation. But universities should not be on the sidelines.

The majority of the executive faculty at the Fletcher School advocated action on this >3 weeks ago.

Lawsuits Over Foreign Students’ Status Find Solid Legal Footing The Trump administration lacks regulatory authority to terminate foreign students’ lawful status in the US, immigration attorneys said about litigation over the government’s unprecedented crackdown.

A slew of lawsuits are being filed in federal courts challenging termination of foreign students’ F-1 status on statutory and due process grounds. Some have already won emergency relief to continue degrees in the US. My latest:

After you read this @dandrezner.bsky.social evisceration of the lies our nation's top diplomat told to get this student deported for speaking her mind, ask yourself, and/or your nearest university president, why they have not filed an amicus brief supporting Tufts, which has supported her.

Glad to see so many schools finally following Tufts’ lead.

American Rendition: Rümeysa Öztürk’s Journey From Ph.D. Scholar to Trump Target Languishing in Louisiana Cell “So horrifying and so heartbreaking”: Öztürk’s close friend provides an intimate look into one of the hundreds of foreign students who have had their visas revoked — and in dozens of instances have be...

I started excerpting this harrowing ProPublica article, but I couldn’t do it justice. It deserves to be read from start to finish.

Please take the time.
This is a national scandal.

www.propublica.org/article/rume...

My thread on today's hearing for Rümeysa Öztürk, now complete!

TLDR: The judge seemed inclined to order Öztürk transferred from Louisiana to Vermont so she could assist in her case. He sounded open to releasing her from ICE detention altogether but wanted a hearing with chance to enter evidence.

This part of the Tufts declaration somehow warms my heart the most: a full-throated defense of Rümeysa Ötürk's op-ed criticizing the Tufts president, signed by the Tufts president! This is how it's supposed to be!

Email to Tufts Administration (Sent on April 1st, 2025) (Sent on April 1st, 2025) To: The Administration, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155 Subject: Concerns around student safety under current administration As the crisis of students, in particular inte...

Today, FAFP issued a clarion call for the Tufts administration to take proactive, tangible, effective steps to protect the freedom of speech of all community members, in the wake of the illegal detention of Rümeysa Öztürk.

Read and share the email: tinyurl.com/EmailTufts

Outraged at what is happening to students in America but grateful at the community leadership we’ve been building as Fletcher

Tufts community calls the Tufts administration to action Circulated on March 27, 2025 at 10:55am EST. This petition was written by a network of Tufts alumni spanning over a decade of graduating classes, including both international and US domestic individua...

We, members of the Tufts community, are appalled and enraged by the unlawful abduction on Tufts PhD Fulbright student Rümeysa Öztürk by federal authorities. We call on the Tufts administration to commit to defending our community against continued targeted attacks.

Read: tinyurl.com/LetterTufts

Grateful to be part of this community.
👇

A Fletcher School Faculty Resolution So I signed something....

In case anyone is interested…. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/a-fletcher...