ICE detained, pro-Palestinian Tufts student makes case to be released

Lawyers for a detained Tufts student and pro-Palestinian activist on Friday said she should be released, arguing her constitutional rights had been violated. 

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, attended her bail hearing in Vermont by video from an immigration detention center based in Louisiana. 

Her attorneys argued she had her free speech, constitutional rights and due process violated when she was detained, according to The Associated Press.

Ozturk was detained on March 25 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside of her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, near Tufts University. 

She was detained for allegedly participating in activities supporting the terrorist group Hamas.

Ozturk, a native of Turkey, told the federal judge that since her detainment she has had multiple asthma attacks since being detained. 

“I was afraid, and I was crying,” she said during the hearing.

Ozturk stated that if she were released, she would have housing at the university and her lawyers and friends would drive her to court hearings in the future.