Liz Szanton

Two woman walking and embracing each other in front of an ICE detention center. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress and heels. The woman on the right is smiling and wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. Members of the press are in the background.

Two women standing, smiling, and embracing each other with grass, water, and the sky in the background. The woman on the left is wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. The woman on the right is wearing a black dress.

Two woman stand next to each other and hold onto one another. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress. The woman on the right is smiling and wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. In the background is the fence of an ICE detention center.

Today, our client Rümeysa Öztürk was released on bail from ICE detention in Louisiana, and she will return to New England to continue her studies.

📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro

BREAKING: A federal court ruled that our client Rümeysa Öztürk must be released on bail immediately. She will return home to New England as her case proceeds.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NYU Faculty Take Classes Off Campus to Protest Lack of Protections for International Students NEW YORK, April 17, 2025 - More than fifty NYU faculty members have taken their classes off campus starting today, and continuing for the next week, to protest the University's lack of commitment to protect international students in the face of the Trump administration's attacks. Some faculty have moved their classes to in-person locations that have been declared sanctuary spaces, where international students are assured that building administrators will do everything in their power to refuse to cooperate with ICE agents. Other faculty have moved their classes online so that students can attend from a safe location of their choosing.

This is how you do it.

Mahmoud should be home in NYC with his wife and newborn son.

Instead he’s in a prison cell a thousand miles away.

Not because he has been accused of any crime—but only because he expressed political views that the Trump administration disfavors.

In addition to violating Mr. Mahdawi’s First Amendment rights, the Rubio Determination and Mr. Mahdawi’s unlawful detention also violates Mr. Mahdawi’s statutory rights and due process rights. PARTIES 8. Petitioner Mohsen Mahdawi is a Palestinian who was born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank. He is a lawful permanent resident of the United States and has been for the last ten years. He is a recent student of Columbia University, with an expected graduation date of May 2025. He has been admitted to a Master’s program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (“SIPA”), to begin in the fall of 2025.

After growing up in a refugee camp, Mr. Mahdawi felt compelled to advocate for Palestinian human rights upon moving to the United States. 22. Mr. Mahdawi is also a committed Buddhist and believes in non-violence and empathy as a central tenet of his religion. In fall of 2021, he became the president of the Columbia University Buddhist Association and led it for two years. 23. In fall of 2023, Mr. Mahdawi co-founded the Palestinian Student Union (“Dar”) at Columbia University which “serves to engage with and celebrate Palestinian culture, history, and identity.” Mr. Mahdawi co-founded this organization with Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian lawful permanent resident who was also recently detained by ICE for his expressive conduct related to Palestine.

Mr. Mahdawi appeared in numerous televised interviews and print news articles regarding the military campaign in Gaza and related protests. In December of 2023, Mr. Mahdawi appeared on 60 Minutes where he shared that, as a child, he watched an Israeli soldier shoot and kill his best friend in the West Bank. 27. Throughout his time as a student and a leader of Dar and the Columbia University Buddhist Association, Mr. Mahdawi was always willing to engage in dialogue with people whose views and beliefs differed from his own. Mr. Mahdawi believed, and continues to believe, that more speech is the solution to disagreement, rather than less, and that empathy and understanding through communication are a way to resolve conflicts peacefully.

…and a peaceful political solution. Mr. Mahdawi gave speeches at several of these protests. In his speeches, Mr. Mahdawi advocated for Palestinian human rights, a permanent ceasefire, and a peaceful resolution that affirmed the human dignity of all. 25. During one protest, Mr. Mahdawi vocally denounced an unaffiliated passerby who made an antisemitic comment, chanting “shame on him”. Mr. Mahdawi stated that “we are against 2:25-cv-00389 Document 1 Filed 04/14/25 Page 6 of 19 7 antisemitism because antisemitism is a form of injustice, and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The confrontation was documented by the Columbia Spectator

The Trump admin has just detained Mohsen Mahdawi, who:
–has green card
–was Columbia Buddhist club president
–saw his best friend shot & killed by Israeli soldier
–said "we are against antisemitism because antisemitism is a form of injustice, and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"

Statement from detained student Rümeysa Öztürk dictated to her attorneys while jailed at the South Louisiana ICE facility:

“Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me”

@theintercept.com

Hey APA, why don’t you restart your CIA torture training while you’re at it? Pathetic. 😒🤬🤮

Everyone should have due process, period. Suffering and injustice faced by any person is our shared concern.

And this is an incredibly important point. The idea that our safety is intertwined is not a metaphor, it is a material reality.

Tufts international graduate student taken into ICE custody A Tufts University international graduate student was reportedly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and remains in federal custody, according to an email sent by the university ...

Secret police (no badge numbers, covered faces) are disappearing student activists. We can't stay silent or let the onslaught dull our outrage.

"A man with a hoodie approaches her, then grabs her wrists. Ozturk screams, then asks 'Can I call the police?' before being told 'We’re the police.'"

A horrifying escalation. Academics must speak out!

Fighting for science is important, but we can't expect others to have our back as scientists without exercising solidarity - especially when it feels risky! Silence and single-issue thinking will not protect us - or anyone.

Amazing points about the role of benevolent sexism in anti-trans legislation. By emphasizing (cis) women's victimhood, we obscure patriarchal violence, wrongly assigning it to trans people. (Cis) men then become saviors rather than perpetrators.

Opinion | There Is No Way to Live a Life Without Regret The panic over transgender children is driven by the fear that they’ll regret transitioning. But freedom to make mistakes is core to being human.

A gorgeous article that expresses the core of our essentialism project (excited to share more soon)!

"The notion that people who diverge from social norms under existing hierarchies deserve basic human dignity only if they have no choice about that divergence is fundamentally degrading."

Jealous!! My favorite new (for me) artist from 2023 :')