APRIL 11, 2025 – A coalition of 27 American Jewish organizations have moved to file an amicus brief in federal court in Vermont, expressing concern over the arrest, detention, and potential deportation of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish national and PhD student at Tufts University. Öztürk was detained last month and is currently being held in an ICE facility in Louisiana. Her visa was revoked under a rarely invoked statute after she co-authored an op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper expressing support for student government resolutions critical of Israel's military conduct in Gaza.
"Without presuming to speak for all of Jewish America—a diverse community that holds a multitude of viewpoints—amici are compelled to file this brief because the arrest, detention, and potential deportation of Rümeysa Öztürk for her protected speech violate the most basic constitutional rights," the organizations say in their brief, emphasizing that freedom of expression, particularly on matters of public concern, is a cornerstone of American democracy and extends to academic settings and campus discourse.
The brief also expresses concern regarding any suggestion that actions taken against Öztürk are necessary to combat antisemitism: "The government . . . appears to be exploiting Jewish Americans' legitimate concerns about antisemitism as pretext for undermining core pillars of American democracy, the rule of law, and the fundamental rights of free speech and academic debate on which this nation was built."
Drawing on historical context, amici note that many Jewish Americans are especially attuned to the dangers of government actions taken in response to political expression, emphasizing that the protection of free speech has long served as a safeguard for minority communities in the United States, and that its erosion, particularly when connected to academic or political discourse, warrants close scrutiny.
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Signatories include a range of Jewish organizations, from well-known national institutions to local congregations and advocacy groups, including:
- Ansche Chesed
- Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice
- B'nai Jeshurun
- Congregation Beth Elohim
- Congregation Dorshei Tzedek (West Newton, MA)
- Habonim Dror
- Harvard Jewish Progressive Alumni
- IKAR
- J Street
- Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
- Jewish Center for Justice
- Jewish Labor Committee
- Keshet
- Leo Baeck Temple
- Ma'yan Tikvah
- New England Jewish Labor Committee
- New Israel Fund
- New Jewish Narrative
- New York Jewish Agenda
- Nexus Project
- T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
- Temple Emanu-El (San Francisco, CA)
- Temple Micah (Washington, D.C.)
- The Boston Workers Circle
- The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
- The Workers Circle
- Worcester Havurah
The amici are represented pro bono by Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, widely recognized as the country's preeminent law firm for First Amendment litigation.
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