America’s Voice Statement on the Abduction of Rumeysa Ozturk

Access online version of this press release HERE

Washington, DC – In a deeply troubling escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants, plainclothes and masked individuals, identifying themselves as federal agents, abducted Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk in broad daylight as she was walking to an interfaith center to break her Ramadan fast. The masked officers, who emerged from unmarked vehicles, forcibly detained her, taking her away without explanation or due process.

This is not an isolated incident. Across the country, students with legal status, like Ozturk in Massachusetts and another doctoral student in Alabama who was taken from his home early Tuesday morning, are being detained without warning, due process, or clear justification.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley called Ozturk’s detention “a horrifying violation” of constitutional rights, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren warned that “The Trump administration is targeting students with legal status and ripping people out of their communities without due process.”

According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:

“What happened to Rumeysa Ozturk is chilling. Taken off the street by masked agents in unmarked cars is something we associate with authoritarian regimes, not a country that claims to uphold the rule of law, freedom, and justice. This is not how a democracy operates or what America stands for.

These actions send a broad message of fear, uncertainty, and exclusion. The United States has long prided itself on being a place of freedom, opportunity, and due process under the law, yet we are seeing policies that undermine those very principles. We cannot allow this to become the new normal.”

Additional AV Resources:

• Read America’s Voice recent statement: “At What Cost?”: More Legal Immigrants Get Caught on Trump’s Immigration Dragnet