Federal Authorities Detain International Student at Tufts University
An international student studying at Tufts University near Boston has been detained by federal authorities, with their visa being revoked, as per a statement released by the university on Tuesday night.
Tufts University mentioned that the graduate student was taken into custody from an off-campus apartment building in Somerville, Massachusetts. However, the university did not have any further information regarding the incident or the student’s status.
Efforts to reach out to representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comments on the university’s statement were unsuccessful.
Unfortunately, a lawyer representing the student was also unavailable for immediate contact.
This detention is part of the ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to target international students in line with their strict immigration policies, which include increased immigration arrests and tighter border controls.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have vowed to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters, accusing them of supporting Hamas and hindering U.S. foreign policy, as well as being antisemitic.
At Columbia University, student protester and lawful permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil was recently arrested. He is challenging his detention after being accused by Trump of supporting Hamas, a claim Khalil denies.
Additionally, federal immigration authorities are attempting to detain a Korean American Columbia University student who is a legal permanent U.S. resident and has participated in pro-Palestinian protests. However, this move has been temporarily halted by the courts.
In another incident, a Lebanese doctor and assistant professor at Brown University in Rhode Island was deported to Lebanon after being denied re-entry to the U.S. The Trump administration alleged that her phone contained photos sympathetic to Hezbollah, although she maintains that she does not support the militant group but respects its deceased leader due to her religious beliefs.
Trump’s administration has also focused on students at Cornell University in New York and Georgetown University in Washington.
