Imagine – you are a regular student, getting your degree in the United States of America. It was your lifelong dream to come to this world-leading country and learn the subject you are passionate about. You’ve been here for quite some time already; you know your way around. But then one day, when you were going to your friend’s apartment for dinner, you got approached by a hooded man. Soon, you were surrounded by even more criminal-looking people with their faces covered, not allowing you to pass.
“We are the police,” one of them said. But for some reason, this did not calm you down. He showed his badge, but did it so quickly that you couldn’t even catch his name. Just moments later, this man gives a sign to his companions, and you feel your hands being pushed behind your back. Now you feel like a criminal even though “the police” did not charge you with any crime. Fearing for your life, you comply and let those people put you in an unmarked vehicle and take you away.
A couple of hours later, a local whose surveillance camera captured “the arrest” would comment on what he saw: “It looked like a kidnapping. Masked men grabbed her, put her into the black SUV. It does not look like public safety to me…”
Unfortunately, it is not the start of a spy novel, but a real situation that happened less than 30 miles away from our campus. On March 25, Rümeysa Öztürk, a Ph.D. student at Tufts University, was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Somerville, Massachusetts. That same day, Ms. Öztürk’s lawyers were working with a Massachusetts court, which prohibited authorities from relocating her without notice. Despite this, she was quickly transferred to Louisiana without warning, where she remains in detention.
Her crime? She wrote an op-ed. An article for the university’s newspaper stating her opinion on the Gaza conflict, questioning the status quo. That’s it. Not an act of violence, not inciting harm, not even an organized protest – just words. The detained had her student visa done according to all the US standards – she had all the legal documents that are required to be able to study in America. From the legal point of view, ICE had no grounds to detain Ms. Öztürk. Yet, she is still being held in Louisiana. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that Ms. Öztürk’s visa was revoked and added, “We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist who tears up our university campuses.”
Let that settle in. Because if writing an opinion piece can get you detained without a proper hearing, then what does that mean for all of us? And most importantly, could this happen to a student at Gordon College?
If you’re an international student with a visa, the answer – whether we like it or not – is yes, it is possible. Unfortunately, some Gordon students or their close ones have experienced visa issues, and the national trend is alarming. According to investigative reports, over 1,000 international students have had their visas revoked in the past year alone. Some were linked to campus protests. Others were accused of violating their visa status based on vague or inconsistent standards. Some, reportedly, were flagged by algorithms that now scan social media posts for political content.
The fear is not just about visa revocation but also about the erosion of the safe space that academic institutions are supposed to provide. Students are now second-guessing their participation in discussions, clubs, and events that touch on international politics or human rights, fearing unintended consequences. And that’s where it gets personal. Because here at Gordon, international students are not just a statistic – we are your lab partners, your group project teammates, your roommates, your best friends. We are part of this community. But when political fear creeps into academic spaces, the foundation of that community begins to crack.
So, what can we do? What can Gordon College do?
The first answer is as old as any movement for justice: stand together. Solidarity is not just a word – it’s an action. It’s showing up when it’s not about you. It’s using your voice even when you could stay silent. For international students, seeing American peers stand up and say, “This isn’t right,” means everything. When you speak out, attend protests, share stories, or simply listen with empathy, you are helping build a campus where fear does not win.
Second: stay informed. Because knowing what is happening is not just about being aware – it’s about being prepared. In this new reality, being warned means being armed. We need to share what we know, to spread information, to learn the rules before they are used against us. And yes, international students also need to know their rights. But this is not just about knowing the law – it’s about recognizing the landscape we are living in. Thankfully, our International Student Office does a great job of helping international students understand the situation. They organize different workshops, invite professional lawyers, and help the internationals in many other ways. We were blessed to have such an amazing team.
Lastly, we cannot let fear reshape who we are. We cannot let fear drive us into silence. If we stop talking, stop writing, stop resisting, then the system wins. And if history has taught us anything, it’s that students – like those at Tufts, and perhaps here at Gordon – can be the voice that sparks real change.
This moment calls not for caution, but for courage. The kind of courage that writes, that questions, that organizes. The kind of courage that refuses to let intimidation win. And I deeply believe that we have that courage. So do not be shaken, do not be afraid. Stand together and be strong. We will get through this. Together.
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