A federal judge has ordered Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University student detained by ICE in Massachusetts last month, to be brought to Vermont by May 1 for a hearing over what her lawyers say was retaliation for an op-ed piece she wrote criticizing the Gaza war.
U.S. District Judge William Sessions announced that he would hear Rumeysa Ozturk’s request to be released from custody. Her lawyers had requested that she be released immediately, or at least returned to Vermont.
Detained by ICE last month
On March 25, immigration officials detained the 30-year-old doctoral student as she walked down a street in Somerville, a Boston suburb.
After being taken to New Hampshire and then Vermont, she was flown the next day to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Basile, Louisiana. On Wednesday, an immigration judge denied her request for bond.
In a court filing, Ozturk claimed she was surrounded by men while walking in Somerville, and they took her phone away. She claimed that the men arrested and shackled her without explaining why.
She said that after they changed cars, she was “sure they were going to kill me.” During a stop in Massachusetts, one of the men told her, “We are not monsters,” adding, “We do what the government tells us.”
Ozturk also described being held in crowded conditions in Louisiana, with limited access to medical care for her asthma.
Ozturk is one of several people with ties to American universities whose visas were revoked or barred from entering the United States after being accused of participating in demonstrations or publicly expressing support for Palestinians.
A Louisiana immigration judge has ruled that the United States can deport Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, citing the federal government’s claim that he poses a national security risk.
Ozturk’s attorneys are challenging the legal basis for ICE’s detention. They requested that she be released immediately or, in the alternative, returned to Vermont while her immigration case is pending.
Lawyer says free speech being violated
A Justice Department lawyer argued that her case should be dismissed because the immigration court has jurisdiction.
Ozturk’s lawyers initially filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts. Initially, they had no idea where she was. They stated that they were unable to speak with her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. Ozturk stated that she had made multiple unsuccessful requests to speak with a lawyer.
Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university’s response to student activists demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments, and divest from Israeli-related companies. Tufts University President Sunil Kumar stated that the opinion piece did not violate any Tufts policies and received no complaints.
Ozturk’s lawyers claim her detention violates her constitutional rights, which include free speech and due process.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated last month, without providing evidence, that investigations revealed Ozturk’s support for Hamas, a US-designated terrorist organization.