What Detainments At Universities Mean For The First Amendment
Signage and flowers are placed on a tree next to where ICE agents apprehended Tuft University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk in Somerville, Massachusetts. Scott Eisen/Getty Images hide caption
Signage and flowers are placed on a tree next to where ICE agents apprehended Tuft University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Scott Eisen/Getty ImagesThe arrest and detainment of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil by Immigration and Customs Enforcement garnered national attention.
Last week, the video of the arrest of a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, Rumeysa Ozturk, by masked federal agents received similar attention.
In addition to Ozturk and Khalil, nearly a dozen international students and faculty at universities across the country have been detained for possible deportation as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on those who've voiced pro-Palestinian views.
They include a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, a doctoral research candidate at Georgetown University, and a Brown University kidney transplant specialist. And hundreds more have had their visas revoked according to administration officials.
We reached to several Universities affected by the arrests. Here's a statement from Georgetown University:
Dr. Khan Suri is an Indian national who was duly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity. We support our community members' rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly.
The arrests have raised questions. What are the rights of immigrants with legal status in the U.S.? Who has the right to dissent under the Trump administration?
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