BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was at UMass Boston Thursday as one of the hosts of the ResilientMass Summit on climate change mitigation.
After speaking at the event also attended by Governor Healey, the mayor was asked about the Tufts University student detained in Somerville by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and re-located to a detention facility in Louisiana.
Rumeysa Ozturk is a Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts.
Video footage shows her being handcuffed Tuesday evening outside her Somerville residence by immigration officials wearing hoodies and masks, then leaving in an unmarked car as she screamed.
Mayor Wu said that she's concerned the detention may have been illegal. "It is alarming that there is the potential that constitutional rights have been violated," Wu said.
She said that she wants more transparency when these kinds of detentions are conducted. "We know that the federal government has their jurisdiction," she said. "They have their job that cities and states cannot override. But they are also not above the law. People's constitutional rights and civil rights are the law of the country," Wu said.
Ozturk's attorney said her client was flown to Louisiana despite a judge's order to keep her in Massachusetts.
Ozturk has reportedly been involved in pro-Palestinian activities at Tufts.
A DHS spokesperson confirmed Ozturk's detention and the termination of her student visa.
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.