U.S. Immigration Officials Detain Iranian Student at University of Alabama

The University of Alabama announced the detention of one of its doctoral students, an Iranian citizen, by federal immigration officials. U.S. immigration authorities also revoked the visa of a Turkish student at Tufts University near Boston following his detention this week. Rumiseh Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student, was arrested on Tuesday, April 5, near the university campus in Somerville by six plainclothes officers. Following the release of a video of the student's arrest on the street, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security accused Ms. Ozturk of engaging in activities 'in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that kills Americans.' The U.S. and the European Union classify Hamas as a terrorist group. The immigration official did not clarify what these 'activities in support of Hamas' were, but U.S. media have pointed out that Rumiseh Ozturk published an article last year criticizing her university for its ties to Israel. Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023 and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza, supported by the U.S., sparked months of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests at universities in the U.S. and other countries. The detention of the Turkish student appears to be part of actions by Donald Trump, the U.S. President, in line with his promise to pursue and expel certain foreign students linked to anti-Israel protests at U.S. universities. Last month, Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, also announced the revocation of visas and permanent residency for supporters of the extremist group Hamas and their expulsion from the U.S. Simultaneously, on Wednesday, April 6, the University of Alabama also announced the detention of one of its doctoral students by federal immigration officials. Although the university did not mention the student's name in its statement, U.S. media, based on the immigration police website, identified him as Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian citizen. The New York Times and several other media outlets that first reported Doroudi's detention, a mechanical engineering student, have yet to determine the reason for this federal action. The arrest of foreign students with legal documentation in the U.S. began with the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a student at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, who was arrested in mid-March 1403 by U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials in his university dormitory in New York. The Trump administration accuses these students of supporting Hamas and anti-Semitism and creating political problems for the country, but protesters against U.S. and Israeli policies argue that Trump conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism.