The Workers Circle joined an amicus brief supporting a Tufts student detained after campus protests, standing for free expression, due process, and student rights.
April 11, 2025
A coalition of 27 American Jewish organizations including the Workers Circle have moved to file an amicus brief in federal court in Vermont, expressing concern over the arrest, detention, and potential deportation of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish national and PhD student at Tufts University. Öztürk was detained last month and is currently being held in an ICE facility in Louisiana. Her visa was revoked under a rarely invoked statute after she co-authored an op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper expressing support for student government resolutions critical of Israel's military conduct in Gaza.
"Without presuming to speak for all of Jewish America—a diverse community that holds a multitude of viewpoints—amici are compelled to file this brief because the arrest, detention, and potential deportation of Rümeysa Öztürk for her protected speech violate the most basic constitutional rights," the organizations say in their brief, emphasizing that freedom of expression, particularly on matters of public concern, is a cornerstone of American democracy and extends to academic settings and campus discourse.
The brief also expresses concern regarding any suggestion that actions taken against Öztürk are necessary to combat antisemitism: "The government . . . appears to be exploiting Jewish Americans' legitimate concerns about antisemitism as pretext for undermining core pillars of American democracy, the rule of law, and the fundamental rights of free speech and academic debate on which this nation was built."
Drawing on historical context, amici note that many Jewish Americans are especially attuned to the dangers of government actions taken in response to political expression, emphasizing that the protection of free speech has long served as a safeguard for minority communities in the United States, and that its erosion, particularly when connected to academic or political discourse, warrants close scrutiny.
About the Workers Circle
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2025, the Workers Circle is a national Jewish social justice organization founded by Eastern European immigrants who came to the United States fleeing autocracy and persecution and seeking democratic freedoms and economic opportunities. That history drives the organization’s work for an inclusive democracy and social equality today. Through strategic and impactful social justice initiatives, vibrant Yiddish language classes and programs, and interactive educational activities, the Workers Circle powers a growing multigenerational community of 150,000+ activists creating meaningful social change, building transformative coalitions and demanding a multiracial multicultural democracy for all. Learn more at www.circle.org.