BASILE, LA — The two million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) today celebrates the release of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University graduate student and proud SEIU Local 509 member, following a groundswell of support and action from union members, students, and allies across the country.

Rümeysa, a visa holder and respected member of the academic and labor community, was detained after expressing views that the Trump administration sought to suppress. Her unjust detention in a privately-run ICE facility in Louisiana sparked widespread outcry and became a rallying point for defenders of free speech, immigrant justice, and union rights.

Her release comes after a series of high-profile solidarity actions over recent weeks, including rallies in Boston, New York City and Washington D.C. on April 1 and solidarity actions earlier today outside ICE facilities in Louisiana and Vermont. On Friday, a SEIU-CIR physician, union leaders, immigrant rights advocates, and community members gathered to demand her freedom and call attention to the constitutional violations at the heart of her case.

“Rümeysa is free – and she is free because workers stood up and demanded justice. We are so excited for her, she gets to return home to her friends and her family and her studies at Tufts University. But our work is far from over. Rümeysa is free, but millions of other immigrants are not. They are still in the shadows. Our work is not done until everyone who calls this country home gets to live with freedom and dignity and respect,” said SEIU President April Verrett in a video on X.

“Today, we celebrate the release of our union member, Rümeysa Öztürk, who was unjustly detained over a month ago by ICE and is now returning to her community here in Massachusetts. Throughout her detention, Rümeysa has shown extraordinary courage. Her strength is the spirit of what drives the labor movement. We are thrilled to welcome her back home,” said Dave Foley, SEIU 509 President. “We are living in a time when fascist ideologies are becoming bolder and louder through scapegoating immigrants, criminalizing dissent, and dismantling worker protections. But the labor movement will not be intimidated. We know that our struggles are bound together. We will continue to show up for Rümeysa now that she is free, to stand with all of our union siblings who have been targeted by ICE, and for communities across the country who are living in fear of detention and deportation. Solidarity means no one gets left behind.”

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