Muslim PhD Student Ambushed by ICE on Way to Iftar

A Turkish woman with a valid visa has become the latest target of Donald Trump’s crackdown on foreign students in the U.S. who oppose his policies.

Rumeysa Ozturk, who spoke out against her university’s stance on Israel’s war on Gaza, was detained and had her visa revoked in what critics are calling a ‘state-sanctioned political abduction.’

Video footage captures the moment she was intercepted by masked plainclothes agents from the Department of Homeland Security while on her way to break her Ramadan fast.

The 30-year-old had just stepped out of her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Tuesday evening when she was suddenly surrounded.

Six individuals, dressed in black with their faces concealed by masks, were seen restraining the PhD student and confiscating her phone as she cried out for help.

In the footage, Ozturk is heard asking if she can call the police, moments before one of the agents flashes a badge.

"We are the police," one of them responds in the video, which was recorded from a nearby apartment window by a resident.

Shocked neighbors described the arrest as resembling a "kidnapping."

Michael Mathis, a software engineer whose surveillance camera recorded the incident, said: "They approached her and immediately started grabbing her, all with their faces covered."

"They have their faces covered and are using unmarked vehicles."

According to the ICE locator database, the student is being held at the South Louisiana Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana—over 1,400 miles from where she was taken into custody.

Her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, told reporters that her legal team has no information on her current whereabouts, has been unable to reach her, and is unaware of any charges filed against her.

In a statement, he added: "Rumeysa Ozturk is a Turkish national who was in valid F-1 status as a PhD student at Tufts University."