Local Medford and Somerville leaders, as well as Massachusetts state leaders, have strengthened their response to the detainment of Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk. Elected officials released a joint statement, and the Medford City Council passed an official resolution for her release.
On April 3, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, State Sen. Patricia Jehlen, three state representatives and all members of the Somerville City Council released a statement calling for Öztürk’s release and the upholding of constitutional freedoms.
“Based on what we know and there being no criminal violations, we call for the immediate release of Rümeysa Öztürk and the restoration of her student visa, not only so that she may return to her studies and contribute to our communities but so that we as a great country can honor our democratic systems, protect our liberty, and uphold the law,” the statement read.
The statement originated in Ballantyne’s office, according to Somerville City Councilor at-Large Jake Wilson, who says councilors were given the opportunity to sign it on the day it was eventually released.
Lungo-Koehn was the sole Medford official to sign on to the statement, as city councilors were not notified or asked to sign, according to Isaac “Zac” Bears, Medford city council president.
However, Lungo-Koehn has been criticized by members of the Medford City Council for an inadequate level of vocal support for Öztürk. Bears says he would like to see a statement directly from Lungo-Koehn to be released.
“I would like to see the mayor issue a statement on behalf of the Office of the Mayor and on behalf of the city, not just join a statement,” he said to the Daily.
The Medford City Council unanimously passed a resolution in its April 8 meeting condemning the “abduction” and calling for Öztürk’s immediate release, while also calling for increased public comment from elected officials.
“It is the obligation of our local, state, and federal government to uphold and protect the rights of our residents, permanent and temporary, all of whom are protected by the United States Constitution,” the resolution reads.
The resolution also calls for an update from Tufts on what steps are being implemented to “protect their community’s right to exercise freedom of speech, assembly, and to petition the government.”
Rocco DiRico, the executive director for the Government & Community Relations team at Tufts, provided a statement to the Medford City Council acknowledging the frightening nature of the events and reassuring students, faculty and staff that the university was gathering resources to ensure their safety.
“We are in touch with local, state and federal elected officials and hope that Rümeysa is provided the opportunity to avail herself of her due process rights,” the statement, read aloud in the April 8 meeting, said.
Local officials also responded to reporting from The Washington Post, published on Sunday, on an internal U.S. State Department memo, written before Öztürk’s detainment, claiming there is insufficient evidence that Öztürk supported terrorist groups or that there was a legal justification to revoke her visa.
“I’m not surprised at all to see that they knew that this was a nothing burger, that this is just a case of, basically, targeted harassment aimed at someone with different political opinions than the regime in charge in Washington,” Wilson said.
“It was a really disturbing and shocking article that pretty much laid bare that there’s no justification for the detention in the first place,” Bears said.
Outside of public displays of support for Öztürk, local governments are working to ensure residents stay informed about immigration-related issues and rights.
Wilson says it can be challenging, given that federal agents have jurisdiction that Somerville officials cannot interfere with, though he says it is most important for people to know their rights.
“We want to build a sense of community where neighbors know each other and that there’s that safety net,” he said. “We also need to not be out there providing assurances of safety that we can’t uphold. The reality is federal agents — they have jurisdiction. They’re able to come in and do these things, even as legally dubious as they might be here in the case of Rümeysa. We cannot interfere.”
Wilson points to organizations like the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that provides immigrant and refugee rights information, and LUCE Immigration Justice Network of MA, which maintains a hotline to report the presence of ICE, as helpful resources.
“I’m open to creative, out-of-the-box solutions, whether that’s something that the city does or maybe something we can do regionally with other city governments in the area,” Bears said.
