After Earning Ph.D., Rümeysa Öztürk Chooses Her Next Chapter

BOSTON – Rümeysa Öztürk has returned to her home in Türkiye following the successful completion of her PhD program in child study and human development, with a focus on young people’s positive behaviors on social media, in February. A little over one year after ICE unlawfully detained Dr. Öztürk in retaliation for co-authoring an op-ed in The Tufts Daily, the parties reached a settlement to resolve outstanding legal issues in federal court and to jointly move to dismiss her immigration proceedings.

“After 13 years of dedicated study, I am very proud to have completed my Ph.D. and to return home on my own timeline,” said Dr. Rümeysa Öztürk. “The time stolen from me by the U.S. government belongs not just to me, but to the children and youth I have dedicated my life to advocating for. With them in mind, I am choosing to return home as planned to continue my career as a woman scholar without losing more time to the state-imposed violence and hostility I have experienced in the United States – all for nothing more than co-signing an op-ed advocating for Palestinian rights.

“As I start the next chapter of my life, I stand firmly in solidarity with academic communities in the U.S. and elsewhere who live in fear for nothing more than their scholarship, and with other scholars punished for their courageous advocacy for Palestine,” Dr. Öztürk continued. “I invite all universities to do better about listening and valuing all of their students as equal community members, rather than favoring some and silencing others. And I invite everyone to recognize the privilege it is for any country to host international scholars, and the hole that is left in our society when that privilege is lost."

An immigration judge terminated the removal proceedings against Dr. Öztürk earlier this year, finding that the government had no basis to deport her. The government appealed that decision soon after to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). This week, under the terms of the settlement agreement, the government and Dr. Öztürk jointly requested termination of proceedings in front of the BIA.

"Rümeysa’s professional and academic accomplishments are impressive, impactful and inspiring, and her positive contributions to the field of child development will only continue to grow as she starts this next chapter,” said Jessie Rossman, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “The government’s arrest and detention of Rümeysa was unlawful and harmful, as numerous federal court decisions have confirmed that the government had no basis for its actions aside from her constitutionally protected speech. Yet even as the government continued a relentless campaign against Rümeysa for nothing more than co-authoring an op-ed, she continued to navigate her studies and her advocacy with strength and grace, and she succeeded in her goal of obtaining her Ph.D. to work towards bettering the lives of children.”

In January, documents revealed as part of the AAUP v. Rubio trial made clear that the government targeted Dr. Öztürk for detention solely for her constitutionally protected speech. Internal government documents show that the government knew that they found no grounds to detain her, or seek to deport her, other than her co-authoring an op-ed in a student newspaper.

“Rümeysa should never have been detained for expressing her opinions in a country that is supposed to protect freedom of speech,” said Esha Bhandari, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “The government’s retaliatory actions violated the Constitution, and having recourse to federal court was essential to secure her release and enable her to complete her Ph.D. We are grateful that she could make decisions about her future on her own terms.”

Under the settlement agreement, Dr. Öztürk was free to return to Türkiye without further interference by the Department of Homeland Security. The government also expressly acknowledged that her SEVIS status has been reinstated and that she was in lawful status at all times that she was in the United States.

"We are incredibly fortunate to have scholars like Rümeysa dedicate years of their life studying in this country, making our communities more vibrant and sharing their knowledge on our campuses” said Monica Allard, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Vermont. “Despite the Trump administration’s best efforts to baselessly attack her character and thwart her career, she successfully completed her studies earlier this year and has now returned home to Turkey. Dr. Öztürk will undoubtedly continue making a difference in the lives of children across the globe through her scholarship in child development and her advocacy for human rights.”

Dr. Öztürk’s SEVIS case and habeas case will be dismissed as part of the settlement. A federal court in the District of Massachusetts had granted her a preliminary injunction in her SEVIS case, which the federal government had indicated it would appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Her habeas case was last argued in front of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, where a decision was pending.

“Despite the administration’s best efforts to punish her for co-authoring an op-ed, Rümeysa successfully completed her Ph.D. program,” said Naz Ahmad, Acting Director of CLEAR. “No student or academic should be deprived of the opportunity to study or pursue research simply because the administration disagrees with their political views, as they attempted to do with Rümeysa. As she embarks on the next stage of her career, we’re excited to see what Rümeysa chooses to do.”

Dr. Öztürk is represented in her federal court proceedings by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Massachusetts, ACLU of Vermont, CLEAR, and Emery Celli Abady Brinckerhoff Ward & Maazel LLP.
For case materials, please see here.