A young woman walked casually on the public street and found herself suddenly surrounded by law enforcement officers wearing clothes. There is no explanation, and without criminal charges and any due process, she is forced into the waiting vehicle and disappears into the maze of the national security system.
Does it sound familiar? You would have forgiven for thinking we were narrating what happened last month at Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk in Somerville, Massachusetts. But no: That was the kidnapped in September 2020 by the political activist Maria Kolesnikova, the former Soviet republic and home to one of the world's most repressive governments.
Disappearances like Ms. Koresnikova are disturbingly common under a dictatorship that dismisses disputes, and the rule of law is smaller than the facts. Similar scenes will occur in Somerville as part of the Trump administration’s resurrection of immigration crackdown, which should bring chills to every American’s spine.
We visited Ms. Ozturk earlier this week at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Center in Basilai, Los Angeles, and is run by the for-profit company Geo Secure Services. This is part of the Louisiana ICE Facilities Network, which the ACLU describes as a “black hole” — hard to reach and isolate, making access to lawyers and family members very difficult and expensive.
We find that not only is a young woman locked in innocence, but a tested democracy. Ms. Ozturk is a graduate student, a writer and community member who is legally revoked in the United States on a legal student visa for no obvious reason. She was walking into the Eid dinner when federal agents (some of whom covered up, detained her, refused to explain why, and forced her to move her to an undisclosed place). It took her family about 24 hours to find out where she lives.
When we met Ms. Ozturk in Basile, she told us that when she was taken away from the nearby streets, she was worried about her life and didn't know who had caught her or where to take her. She said her repeated contacts to contact an attorney for every step from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to Vermont to Louisiana. In the detention center, her underfeeded, extremely hot facilities were kept in the facility and denied personal necessities and religious accommodation. She suffered asthma attacks and she lacked prescription medications. Despite this, despite being far from her loved ones, we are still shocked by her unwavering spirit.
Why is the Trump administration targeting her? It is well known that this is because she is one of the authors of the Tufts Daily’s opinion paper, criticizing the university’s response to Tufts Student Senate resolutions on Israel and Gaza.
This is not immigration law enforcement. This is suppression. This is authoritarianism.
The Trump administration is working overtime to silence dissent and intimidate immigrant communities. In the case of Ms. Oztuk, it openly violates the most basic protection of our Constitution. Free speech, the right to the press and due process is not the advice of this country. They are fundamental rights. They are suitable for citizens, permanent residents and individuals like Ms. Oztuk, regardless of her political beliefs.
The First Amendment protects the voices of Frederick Douglass, Alice Paul and Martin Luther King Jr., and it must protect the voices of Ms. Oztulk. Indeed, when objections become a challenge to those in power, this is even more important to maintaining behavior. When protected speech becomes a legitimate reason for international students who come here, it is clear that our immigration laws are being abused.
The United States has long stood on the cornerstone of due process – formed in the Fifth and 14th Amendments, which avoids accurate such arbitrary state violence. But when the target is immigrants, Muslims, or people who dare to criticize the administration, the Trump administration’s actions seem to be consuming.
There is no doubt that Ms. Ozturk's case is not an isolated case. This administration has overseen a wave of unconstitutional actions: raids without warrants, long-term detention without hearings and retaliatory deportation. Every case is cut in the rule of law. Everyone can make the next step easier to ignore. Everyone brings us closer to authoritarianism we once thought could never be rooted in American soil.
When the government begins to imprison writers in its words, when it abandons legal norms for political convenience, when it conceals oppression in the language of national security, the alarm bell must ring. loudly.
We call on the Department of Homeland Security to release Ms. Ozturk immediately, to waive any lawsuits against her, and to begin investigating the shocking conditions at the Basil Detention Centre. We urge our Republican colleagues in Congress to stand up and clearly oppose President Trump's disregard for the rule of law. We urge every American to understand: this is not someone else’s fight. The Constitution is as strong as our willingness to defend it.
Edward J. Markey is a U.S. Junior High School Senator from Massachusetts. Jim McGovern is the representative of Massachusetts' Second Congressional District. Ayanna Pressley is the representative of the seventh Congressional District of Massachusetts.
Gerald Herbert/AP source photo.
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