Washington’s beefed-up efforts against pro-Palestinian protesters have resulted in numerous arrests and deportations, sparking controversy on the law and human rights front.
Included is Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral candidate at Tufts University, who was picked up by Homeland Security agents in Massachusetts on March 25. Prosecutors say she interfered with the U.S. relationship with Israel by carrying out pro-Hamas activity, but her peers claim only participating in the writing of a pro-protest oped. A judge has blocked her deportation while the court makes a decision.
Paikul also reported on CBS2 that Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia graduate student, was arrested after his green card was canceled. The government charges his protest attendance as backing of Hamas, a contention he denies. 
In a similar incident, Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown, Indian scholar, was arrested outside of his home, accused at spreading Hamas propaganda. His lawyers say he was picked on because of social media comments and his wife’s Palestinian background.
Ranjani Srinivasan, a Indian Columbia doctoral student, was forced to leave the US after authorities discovered she was possibly giving support for “violence.”
Legal challenges are piling up as students and scholars fight back against these detentions on grounds that their activism is protected free speech. The censorship has raised alarms that this is an attack on academic freedom and immigration.
With cases in the courts, the decision on these cases may determine the future of political expression by immigrants in the U.S.
