Tufts University student targeted by Trump administration completes PhD

Rümeysa Öztürk, who faced deportation over pro-Palestinian op-ed, travels back to Turkey to begin career

• https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/feb/17/sign-up-for-the-breaking-news-us-email-to-get-newsletter-alerts-direct-to-your-inbox?utm_medium=ACQUISITIONS_STANDFIRST&utm_campaign=BN22326&utm_content=signup&utm_term=standfirst&utm_source=GUARDIAN_WEB">Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/feb/18/rumeysa-ozturk-trauma-children-ice-gaza">Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University student who was targeted by the Trump administration last year in response to co-writing a pro-Palestinian op-ed, completed her doctorate in the US and traveled back to her native Turkey this week.

Öztürk was https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/feb/18/rumeysa-ozturk-trauma-children-ice-gaza">detained last year by immigration agents in Massachusetts, with https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/26/ice-agents-detain-tufts-university-graduate-student">video of the Tufts University student’s arrest going viral.

She was one of many international students targeted by the Trump administration for pro-Palestinian speech and activism during widespread protests, which were especially active on US college campuses, against https://www.theguardian.com/world/israel-hamas-war">Israel’s war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/29/the-middle-east-in-crisis-7-october-the-day-that-changed-the-world">deadly attack on southern Israel.