A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk on Friday, saying her continued detention could make “the speech of millions of individuals who are not citizens of this country.”
During a hearing in Vermont Federal District Court, Judge William K. Sessions III said Ms. Oztok should be released immediately: “Her continued detention is unbearable.”
Ms. Ozturk, a doctoral student from Turkey, has been in custody since March 25, when immigration and customs law enforcement officers surrounded her outside her home in Somerville, Massachusetts in masks and plainclothes while she called her mother. They said she was taken to a Louisiana detention center where her friends, family and attorneys didn't know where she was at the 24-hour location.
Her arrest has led to public outrage at her treatment and criticism of the government for being abused by the immigration system to deport international students. In seeking release, her lawyer accused the government of detaining her in retaliation for the First Amendment protected remarks. The main evidence against her appears to be criticism of Israel, which she wrote in Tufts’ student newspaper last year.
They also said the detention center's condition is aggravating her chronic asthma and preventing her from pursuing academic work.
Her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, said Ms. Ozturk had been released and she was “relieved”.
“When will oppression become a crime?” asked Ms. Hambabbi. “When will people who oppose genocide become something to be imprisoned?”
Ms. Ozturk appeared at the hearing from remote feed from the Ice Detention Center in Brazil, Los Angeles, to a courtroom in Muslim Burlington, wearing a headscarf and orange cover.
More than an hour after the hearing, she appeared to have suffered an asthma attack, coughing and choking, and the judge allowed her to leave the feed for a while.
Ms Ozturk testified that she has suffered an escalation of asthma attack since her arrest. She said the first attack was when she parked her plane from Vermont to Louisiana in Atlanta.
Pulmonologist Dr. Jessica McCannon testified that Ms. Oztuk's asthma was under poor control in detention and that she would continue to worsen if she was not released. She said she was unable to physically check Ms. Ozturk but talked to her and reviewed her medical records.
The hearing was accelerated by Judge Sessions. Earlier this week, the federal court of appeals ordered it to be transferred to Vermont for a bail hearing next week. But the judges decided to hold a hearing with Ms Ozturk, who is still in Louisiana.
The hearing was held in Vermont as Ms. Oztulk spent the entire night there on her way to Louisiana, a circuit-reducing route her lawyer said was preventing them from finding her.
Government lawyers at the Court of Appeals’ hearing declined to discuss the issue of remarks and raised another judge. However, the judges did not speak on Friday, suggesting that the administration is trying to show the slightest evidence that she poses a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests with the slightest evidence.
“There is no evidence other than a specialized editor,” he said on his release.
He added that non-citizens “may now avoid exercising their First Amendment rights because they are concerned about being driven to a detention center at home.”
Department of Homeland Security officials said Ms. Oztulk “has been engaged in an activity to support Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that loves to kill Americans.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on Ms. Oztulk’s detention at a press conference after being arrested, saying she did not get a visa to “become a social activist and tear our university campuses apart.”
But at Friday's hearing, government lawyer Michael Drescher called out no witnesses and hardly spoke. When he speaks, he mainly asks technical questions about bail conditions.
Mr. Dresser asked the judge to remember that even if Ms. Oztuk was released from custody of immigration, the deportation against her would continue.
Ms. Oztuk was free to return to Somerville, the judges' meeting said. He said he did not see the risk of her escaping. “She is also free to travel to Massachusetts and Vermont for further court appearances,” he added.
The judge said he wanted to give Ms. Ozturk the maximum mobility so that she could seek the educational opportunities needed to complete her PhD.
Ms Ozturk testified that she was confined to others by 23 other women in a space suitable for 14 people. She said the odor of stress and cleaning supplies exacerbated her asthma. But as she sought treatment, medical staff at the detention center kept surrendering and making a sound to her, a nurse tearing off her head scarf.
She testified that it was “impossible” to conduct a paper in custody because she had no access to a computer, professor, library or peers. According to testimony, Ms. Ozturk, who specializes in children's media, will complete her doctoral dissertation in December and graduate in February.
Her consultant Sara Johnson testified that Ms Ozturk has been studying innovative research on how teenagers can use social media to benefit others.
Describing her connection with the Tufts community, Ms. Ozturk said she helped organize an event with her colleagues where community members gathered to express grief for children in conflict areas around the world, “From Canada to Israel, Russia to Ukraine, Congo to Sudan, Sudan to Sudan, Sudan to Sudan, from Sudan to Kemir, from Kemir, from Kemir, from Kemir, from Kemeron to Triumph, from all over the world, from all parts.
The judge's decision is another failure of the government's efforts to expel international students related to pro-Palestinian advocacy. A week ago, another federal judge in Vermont, Geoffrey W. Crawford (Geoffrey W.
Mr. Mahdawi is a permanent resident of the United States and will graduate from Colombia in May. His lawyers said the government's retaliation against his pro-Palestinian activism detained him. He was arrested on April 14 after a naturalization interview at the Immigration Field Office.
