It's Happening Again
The Subversion of Our Constitution and the Marginalized Suffer
The tragic attacks by the Islamic terrorist group, Al Qaeda, on September 11, 2001 felt unimaginable to most Americans. Not since Pearl Harbor, in which 2,403 U.S. personnel and 68 civilians perished, had our country experienced such a deadly attack on its own soil. Once the smoke and dust cleared at the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania, nearly 3,000 Americans were dead
Just 45 days after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush signed The USA Patriot Act into law. From the very beginning, there were concerns that the law would lead to the violations of civil liberties and privacy. The act allowed the American government to conduct secret searches and wire taps with little judicial oversight, and allowed the government access to the personal records of anyone deemed a potential terrorist threat. This included access to financial, medical, educational, and even library records. The act also allowed for “sneak and peek” searches, in which individuals weren’t notified that their belongings had been searched.
President Bush declared a Global War on Terror that “extended to every corner of the earth” and “allowed detaining suspects found anywhere as ‘enemy combatants’ without charge or trial until the ‘war’ ended, meaning, potentially, forever.” Shortly thereafter, prisoners began serving indefinite sentences at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) where the government began utilizing what they called “enhanced interrogation techniques.” These included, “sexual harassment and threats of rape, threats with dogs, extended solitary confinement, light and sound manipulation, exposure to extreme temperatures, sleep deprivation, physical abuse such as beatings or being put into ‘stress positions,’ forced shaving, and religious abuse such as mocking the call to prayer and abuse of the Qur’an.”
Make no mistake—this was torture.
At home, Americans’ shock faded and blossomed into rage. The country now took aim at Muslim Americans, who became the targets of physical assault, widespread discrimination, and egregious civil rights violations. In 2002, men from Muslim countries were required to register with government authorities, leading to the interrogation and deportation of thousands of Muslim Americans, Arab Americans, South Asian Americans, as well as Muslim immigrants and visitors. Frequently there was no due process or formal charges.
Many Americans were still coming to terms with the attacks and didn’t push back against the crimes and civil rights violations committed by the Bush administration. Often, people simply weren’t aware due to the government’s secrecy surrounding the War on Terror.
Today, we are witnessing a similar and equally corrupt war on the Constitution and America’s immigrant population. In my March 28th piece, “The Disappeared,” I wrote briefly about Rumeysa Öztürk, a Turkish national and PhD student at Tufts University, who was arrested in Massachusetts by ICE. Her detention came after she co-authored an op-ed in Tufts’ student newspaper that called on Tufts University to acknowledge the "Palestinian genocide" and divest from any companies doing business with Israel. In a post on X, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that Öztürk had “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.”
Today, I’d like to dive deeper into Rumeysa Öztürk’s utterly dystopian arrest and unconstitutional detainment.
Rumeysa Öztürk is a third-year doctoral student, in the United States legally on a student visa. She’s currently studying in the Eliot-Pearson Child Study and Human Development at Tufts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. While there, she has also served as a teaching assistant in numerous undergraduate courses. In praise of Öztürk, one of her colleagues said:
“It has been an honor and privilege to work with Rumeysa. She goes above and beyond to help create an inspiring and inclusive learning environment where students feel valued and empowered. Rumeysa’s motivation, patience, empathy, and ability to engage with students is inspiring. She consistently offers creative and innovative ideas while remaining open to others’ perspectives, serving as a role model to our learning community. Her collaborative spirit, intellectual curiosity, positive attitude, and remarkable ability to foster a genuine passion for learning have left an indelible mark on all of our lives.”
Öztürk’s area of interest “centers on children’s and adolescents' positive development in a media-embedded, digitally connected global world.” Additionally, her dissertation will focus on how adolescents and youth use social media in “prosocial ways.”
I’m no detective, but Rumeysa Öztürk doesn’t seem to fit the profile of someone who “relishes the killing of Americans.”
On March 25, Rumeysa Öztürk was on her way to meet friends at an Iftar dinner to break her Ramadan fast when she was approached by plain-clothed immigration agents. The agents wore hoods and masks to conceal their identities, and Öztürk wasn’t shown badges until after she’d been detained.
In a widely viewed video of the arrest, a male agent can be heard saying to a visibly frightened Öztürk, “I understand it’s scary. We’re the police, we’re the police.” An onlooker responds, “Well you don’t look like it! Why are you hiding your faces? Why are you hiding your faces.” There was no response from ICE to the onlooker’s question.
After her arrest, her legal team, including the American Civil Liberties Union, filed “an amended habeas petition and complaint with the federal court in the District of Massachusetts, challenging her unconstitutional detention by ICE.” A resulting court order required that Öztürk was not to be removed from Massachusetts without prior notice. According to her council, despite the order, she was transferred to Louisiana without notification.
On Friday, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that Öztürk cannot be deportated without a court order, and the Trump administration has until tomorrow to respond to her attorney’s updated complaint. In that complaint, her council argues that her arrest and detainment is unconstitutional, violating her rights to free speech and due process.
Rumeysa Öztürk’s arrest should be appalling and deeply disturbing to all Americans regardless of personal politics. The United States Constitution protects any individuals in the country on a student visa. In fact, the rights afforded by the Constitution are generally extended to all persons within the United States (with limitations).
Under the U.S. Constitution, Rumeysa Öztürk enjoys the right to:
1. Due Process - 5th & 14th Amendments
2. Equal Protection Under the Constitution - 14th Amendment
3. Freedom of Speech & Religion - 1st Amendment
4. Protection Against Unreasonable Searches - 4th Amendment
5. Legal Counsel - 6th Amendment
6. Protection Against Cruel & Unusual Punishment - 8th Amendment
Whether or not the Trump Administration will correct this egregious wrong and acknowledge and protect Rumeysa’s constitutional rights remains to be seen. Nevertheless, we live in a country where The Constitution is the Law of the Land.
We must defend our Constitution and all those protected by it.
If we as Americans sit idle and allow the Trump Administration to throw away the rights guaranteed by this sacred document, there will no longer be rule of law in the United States.
There will no longer be The United States of America.