A federal judge in Vermont on Friday ordered immigration authorities to transfer Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University being held in Louisiana, to Vermont.
Judge William Sessions gave U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement a deadline of May 1 to bring Öztürk to Vermont, where she will remain in ICE custody. He also ordered a bail hearing for May 9, with Öztürk appearing in person.
Öztürk was arrested by plainclothes officers on March 25 on a residential street in Somerville and swiftly moved across state lines, first to New Hampshire and Vermont, before being flown to a Louisiana detention facility. Öztürk’s attorneys say she was unlawfully detained in retaliation for co-writing an op-ed in a student newspaper critical of the school’s response to the war in Gaza.
“The Court further finds that Ms. Öztürk has raised significant constitutional concerns with her arrest and detention which merit full and fair consideration in this forum,” Sessions wrote.
Sessions stayed his order for four days to give both parties the chance to appeal.
The order from Sessions comes two days after a Louisiana immigration judge denied Öztürk’s release on bond, determining she posed both a flight risk and a danger to the public. Her attorneys contended in court filings that the evidence against Öztürk rested on a one-paragraph memo from the State Department that said her activities “may undermine U.S. foreign policy,” in explaining why it revoked her visa.
In a statement, Lia Ernst, legal director for the ACLU of Vermont, which is representing Öztürk, said: “Today’s ruling rightfully affirms that the government cannot undermine the justice system and attempt to manipulate a case’s jurisdiction by secretly transporting and imprisoning someone over a thousand miles from home.”
Sessions also assumed jurisdiction over the case, rejecting the government’s assertions that his court lacks the authority to weigh in on the matter.
Öztürk’s attorneys had requested the judge order her immediate release. But Sessions states he didn’t have enough information to determine whether he could order her release before the bail hearing.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security referred questions to the State Department, which has not responded.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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