- Federal judge William Sessions ordered Öztürk’s release on May 9 and she is now free on a personal bond.
- Öztürk’s attorneys say she committed no crime and that she was targeted by ICE merely because she co-wrote a pro-Palestinian essay in the Tufts student newspaper.
A federal judge in Vermont has ordered the Trump administration to release a Tufts University PhD student from Turkey whose video-recorded detention earlier this year by immigration agents drew broad condemnation.
Judge William Sessions ordered the release of Rümeysa Öztürk on May 9, and she is now free on a personal recognizance bond, her attorneys said. Öztürk, who is Muslim, was taken into custody by plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as she walked on the sidewalk near her Boston-area home on March 25.
Shortly after Sessions’ ruling, Öztürk was released from the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile.
Öztürk’s attorneys say she has committed no crime, and was instead targeted by ICE because she co-wrote a pro-Palestinian opinion piece in the student newspaper. Öztürk was detained in Massachusetts before being transferred to Vermont and then Louisiana, where the White House has been sending many international detainees. Her attorneys said her health has been declining since she’s been detained.
“When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?” her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, said in a statement.
The Trump administration had targeted multiple international students over their participation in pro-Palestinian protests, but generally declined to offer specific charges against each. The administration has also revoked the visas of more than 1,000 international students, many of whom appeared to have never participated in protests, although those revocations are now on hold.
Prior to the Trump administration, people on visas like the one Öztürk holds were typically permitted to remain free during the immigration court process.
Sessions’ specific order was not immediately available; most of the court files are sealed.
Critics said the Trump administration targeted Öztürk to scare other students. “I am relieved and ecstatic that Rümeysa has been ordered released,” Khanbabai said. “Unfortunately, it is 45 days too late. She has been imprisoned all these days for simply writing an op-ed that called for human rights and dignity for the people in Palestine
