Tufts Student Rümeysa Öztürk Released From ICE Detention
The decision is another blow to the Trump administration’s effort to detain and deport international students for their speech.
Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk was released from ICE detention on Friday after a federal judge ordered her to be freed on bail.
Öztürk, a Turkish national, was detained by masked immigration agents as she was walking down a street in Somerville, Massachusetts, in late March. A video of her arrest shocked many worldwide.
She thanked those outside the detention center in Louisana, where she was being held, but declined to comment further.
“I am relieved and ecstatic that she has been ordered released,” Mahsa Khanbabai, Öztürk’s lawyer, told Zeteo in a statement.
“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,” Khanbabai added. “When did speaking up against oppression become a crime When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?”
‘No Evidence’
As with others like Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri and Columbia University student protest leaders Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, Öztürk has committed no crime; the Trump administration is attempting to deport her on spurious charges of compromising US foreign policy – a rarely-used authority that already tests the bounds of the constitution.
The Department of Homeland Security claims Öztürk “engaged in anti-Israel activism in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023.” Specifically, a senior DHS official wrote that Öztürk “co-authored an Op-ed article” that “called for Tufts to ‘disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.’”
But an internal State Department memo itself admits the department had not produced any evidence showing Öztürk engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization.
Despite this, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off on Öztürk’s arrest on “foreign policy” grounds. “We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” Rubio said two days after Öztürk’s arrest.
“Her continued detention potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens,” Judge William Sessions said during Friday’s hearing.
"There has been no evidence that has been introduced by the government other than the op-ed. I mean, that literally is the case,” he added.
“There is no evidence here as to the motivation, absent consideration of the op-ed, so that creates unto itself a very significant [and] substantial claim that the op-ed – that is, the expression of one's opinion as ordinarily protected by the First Amendment – form the basis of this particular detention.”
The judge’s decision on Friday comes just days after a federal Appeals Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that Öztürk be transferred from Louisiana to Vermont.
In the immediate aftermath of her arrest, Öztürk was not able to speak to her lawyer for more than 24 hours, and not until after she was sent to an ICE facility in Louisiana – despite a court order that she not be moved from Massachusetts, where she was initially detained.
Since her arrest, Öztürk has suffered from several asthma attacks and received inadequate care, according to court documents. Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts told Mehdi this week that Öztürk has received no religious accommodation, including for her diet and prayer. She also said Öztürk’s hijab was removed without her consent.
In one moment during Friday’s hearing – her first public appearance since being detained – Öztürk suffered an asthma attack as a doctor was testifying about her increasingly frequent and severe asthma attacks.
Blow to Trump Administration
Öztürk release is another major blow to the Trump administration over its effort to deport international students and scholars who speak out for Palestinian rights. Palestinian Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi was released on bail last week.
This week, a federal court ruled against the Trump administration’s effort to move Khan Suri's case challenging his detention from Virginia to Louisiana.
Meanwhile, a federal court also denied the Trump administration's attempt to move detained Columbia student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil's habeas case out of New Jersey.
The Trump administration was seeking to have both cases in Louisiana in an effort legal experts describe as “forum shopping” to find courts more likely to go along with their deportation regime.
If you are a student affected by this or someone who works in or around the US government with relevant information about these developments, please contact me via email or Signal (premthakker.35).
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout.
Check out more from Prem on Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine speech:
Fantastic. I hope she sues for unlawful detention. She already has good lawyers, and she’s entitled to damages.
Hurray!! But what about the Columbia student whose wife just had a baby?!😃♥️🥺♥️🇺🇸🇺🇸