Last week, seven days after doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk was kidnapped off the street in Somerville, MA, by plain-clothes, masked ICE officers, the Tufts University Office of the President released a statement in support of a motion filed by Rümeysa Öztürk’s legal team. The statement affirms that Öztürk, along with the rest of Tuft’s international students, faculty, and staff, are valued members of the community whose work and freedom of movement is essential to the ability of the university to carry out its mission. In addition, it affirms that the University has found no evidence that Öztürk was in violation of any Tufts policies, nor the Immigration and Naturalization Act, and pleads for due process and an immediate release so that Öztürk can return to her studies.

A couple of days later, SEIU Local 509, the union of which Rümeysa is a member, projected over Boston Commons images of Rümeysa with the words “Free Rümeysa Now!” and “No scabs, no fascists.”

These acts of institutional support for the disappeared and explicit resistance to the blatant and sweeping attacks on academic freedom and freedom of movement generally are unfortunately the exceptions to the rule of anticipatory institutional compliance with the Trump régime. Still, they are encouraging developments that come as the result of massive public uprising in support of Rümeysa Öztürk.

A judge is considering releasing Öztürk on bail while her case moves through the courts. Let’s keep up the heat.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)