Vermont Public is independent, community-supported media, serving Vermont with trusted, relevant and essential information. We share stories that bring people together, from every corner of our region. New to Vermont Public? Start here.

© 2025 Vermont Public | 365 Troy Ave. Colchester, VT 05446

Public Files:
WVTI · WOXM · WVBA · WVNK · WVTQ
WVPR · WRVT · WOXR · WNCH · WVPA
WVPS · WVXR · WETK · WVTB · WVER
WVER-FM · WVLR-FM · WBTN-FM

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@vermontpublic.org or call 802-655-9451.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Appeals court to hear cases of Mohsen Mahdawi, Rumeysa Ozturk today

A painted sign shows a woman wearing glasses and wearing a head covering with the words "free Rümeysa"
Lexi Krupp
/
Vermont Public
A painted protest sign outside federal court in Burlington on April 14, 2025 that was carried by a Williamstown, Massachussetts resident in support of Rümeysa Öztürk.

A federal appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday in the cases of a Turkish Tufts University student who has been detained by immigration authorities for six weeks and a Palestinian student at Columbia University who was recently released from detention.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New York, is expected to hear motions filed by the U.S. Justice Department regarding Rumeysa Ozturk and Mohsen Mahdawi. The department is appealing decisions made by two federal judges in Vermont. It also wants to consolidate the students' cases, saying they present similar legal questions.

Immigration court proceedings for Ozturk and Mahdawi are being conducted separately.

A district court judge in Vermont had ordered that Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student, be brought to the state from a Louisiana immigration detention center by May 1 for hearings to determine whether she was illegally detained. Ozturk's lawyers say her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.

The appeals court paused that order last week in order to consider the government's motion.

Congress limited federal-court jurisdiction over immigration matters, the Justice Department said. It said an immigration court in Louisiana has jurisdiction over Ozturk's case.

Immigration officials surrounded Ozturk as she walked along a street in a Boston suburb March 25 and drove her to New Hampshire and Vermont before putting her on a plane to the detention center in Basile, Louisiana.

Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide," disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March, without providing evidence, that investigations found that Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.

The government is also challenging another judge's decision to release Mahdawi from detention in Vermont on April 30. Mahdawi led protests at Columbia University against Israel's war in Gaza. He was arrested by immigration officials during an interview about finalizing his U.S. citizenship.

After release from prison, Mohsen Mahdawi is rooted in the Upper Valley — and in his purpose

Mahdawi, 34, has been a legal permanent resident for 10 years. He was in a Vermont state prison since April 14. In his release order, U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said Mahdawi has raised a "substantial claim that the government arrested him to stifle speech with which it disagrees."

Mahdawi's release allows him to travel outside his home state of Vermont and attend graduation next month in New York. He recently completed coursework at Columbia and planned to begin a master's degree program there in the fall.

Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message.

Loading...


Latest Stories