Federal judge orders release of detained Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk
A federal judge ordered the government to release a Tufts University graduate student who was grabbed off the street in late March and detained for co-writing an opinion piece in a student newspaper criticizing the war in Gaza.
Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish citizen, was seized by masked federal agents outside her home near Boston, then driven to Vermont and flown to Louisiana, where she has remained in detention.
Friday’s hearing was held in federal court in Vermont, where Öztürk’s lawyers argued that her arrest and detention were unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions said the student’s detention “constitutes a continued infringement on Ms. Öztürk’s First Amendment and due process rights.” It also “potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of individuals in this country who are not citizens.”
The government did not present a legitimate case for Öztürk’s incarceration, Sessions said, and therefore her “continued detention cannot stand.” A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge’s ruling.
Öztürk, 30, attended the hearing remotely, appearing via video call in an orange prison smock from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana. She appeared to tear up as the judge concluded his ruling and embraced her lawyer at the end of the hearing.
Öztürk testified at the hearing that she suffers from asthma attacks, which have worsened during her time in custody. “The duration, intensity and frequency has increased,” Öztürk said, because of the “constant triggers around me and the stressful environment” at the detention facility.
She told the court she was eager to return to her doctoral studies in child study and human development at Tufts.
Öztürk will be released on bail while her case continues. She will also still be subject to deportation proceedings.
Her arrest is part of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration on students who are not U.S. citizens who have been involved in pro-Palestinian activism. In recent months, the government has arrested pro-Palestinian students—including U.S. permanent residents—and swiftly sent them to detention centers in states such as Louisiana and Texas as a prelude to deporting them.
The students have not been accused of any crimes. To initiate deportation proceedings, the Trump administration is using an obscure provision of immigration law that allows the removal of a person whose presence is deemed to undermine U.S. foreign policy.
In Öztürk’s case, her student visa was revoked in March without notifying her. The Department of Homeland Security has said Öztürk engaged in activities “in support of Hamas,” a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, but in the weeks since she was detained, neither the agency nor prosecutors have provided evidence for that claim.
Instead, government filings in her case have cited a memo that refers only to a 2024 opinion piece she co-wrote in a Tufts student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Internal correspondence in Öztürk’s case reveals that DHS recommended revoking Öztürk’s visa. Öztürk “engaged in anti-Israel activism,” a senior DHS official wrote. “Specifically,” he continued, Öztürk “co-authored an Op-ed article” that called for Tufts to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
However, a subsequent State Department memo found that while Öztürk had criticized her university’s response to the war in Gaza, DHS did not produce any evidence showing that she had engaged in antisemitic activity or made public statements indicating support for a terrorist organization.
At Friday’s bail hearing, the Justice Department did not present any witnesses or ask Öztürk any questions.
Jessica McCannon, a pulmonologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, testified that she had reviewed Öztürk’s medical records and spoken with her during her time in detention. McCannon said Öztürk’s asthma had “worsened significantly” since her arrest. Öztürk excused herself briefly during the hearing after her lawyer said she began to experience symptoms.
Sessions questioned Öztürk about her health, her doctoral studies and her work as a teaching assistant. He asked her several times to speak slowly for the benefit of the court reporter. After she finished, the judge gave her a piece of advice for her future teaching career. “Try your best to be slow,” he said.
Öztürk smiled, and there was laughter in the courtroom. “Thank you, your honor, I will do my best,” Öztürk said, crossing her hands over her chest in a gesture of sincerity. “Thank you.”
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