The Rt. Rev. Julia E. Whitworth, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, issued on April 1, 2025, the following statement on the detention of Tufts University doctoral student, Rümeysa Öztürk.
I decry the arrest and detention of Rümeysa Öztürk, the Ph.D. student at Tufts University who was apprehended by federal agents last Tuesday on a Somerville street as she was on her way to an iftar, a traditional break-fast meal during Ramadan. A former Fulbright scholar and current doctoral student from Turkey in the U.S. on a student visa, Ms. Öztürk was arrested without prior warning and without being charged of a crime or experiencing any due process. It is all but certain that she was targeted largely because she expressed political views in an opinion-editorial in a Tufts student newspaper, published a year ago. Despite a federal court order to the contrary, she was removed to a detention center in another state, without immediate access to an attorney.
I reject the actions of the executive branch of our federal government in its targeting of international students for their exercise of free speech and dissent, cornerstones of our U.S. Constitution and American values. Our Christian faith calls us to renounce the promotion of xenophobia and fear to foment dehumanization of any of God’s children, especially immigrants and our newest neighbors. In the name of the One who commands us to welcome the stranger (Matthew 25:38) and to love resident aliens (Leviticus 19:34), I join the Attorney General of Massachusetts and other state officials in calling for complete transparency regarding Ms. Öztürk’s detention and for the due process that contributes to the safety and protection of all our neighbors in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Throughout the congregations of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, we are committed to radical welcome, care, and support of our most vulnerable neighbors and to collaboration with our ecumenical, interfaith, and secular partners for immigration justice.
With more than 75 colleges and universities in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, it is critical that our community stand with Tufts University and those in higher education who seek to keep their international students safe and to guard the exchange of free speech and diverse viewpoints. I urge our congregations and all people of faith to join me in praying for Ms. Öztürk and all who fear arrest and deportation on account of their nationality, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, or political views. In a time when chaotic fearmongering has become a strategy for national division and overreaching government control, I recall and commend the promise in Scripture that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). I call upon every follower of Jesus, each community that gathers in his name, and all people of goodwill to do their part to love their neighbors, to respect the dignity of every human being, and to promote sanctuary, peace, and protection for all of God’s beloved children.