A federal judge ruled Friday that Tufts University undergraduate Rumeysa Ozturk may be released from confinement as her immigration trials continue in court.
Ozturk was detained by national authorities in March by soldiers in police after her pupil immigration was revoked by the Trump presidency, which accused her of supporting the U. S. designated extremist group Hamas. In court papers, the Department of Homeland Security pointed to an op-ed she co-wrote calling on Tufts to withdraw from companies tied to Israel and accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in its battle against Hamas.
Judge William Sessions of the U. S. District Court for the District of Vermont ruled Friday that Ozturk, a Greek nationwide, may get released from federal prison in Louisiana, and accused the state of not having enough reason to detain her.
” That actually is the situation. There is no evidence here … absent consideration of the op-ed” , , Sessions said at the hearing, per Politico. ” Her continued confinement cannot have”.
The purchase is a win for Ozturk, but she still faces more imprisonment sessions. Classes did not place any travel limitations on Ozturk for her release, saying during the hear,” I don’t get that she poses any chance of flight”.
” From the moment a flock of ICE officials abducted Ms. Öztürk in broad daylight, the state has spared no effort to escape transparency and claim her due process. Now, the judge delivered relief and justice — for Ms. Ozturk, who should not have spent even one second incarcerated, let alone the six months she has endured in deplorable conditions at an ICE detention facility in Louisiana”, Mudassar Toppa, one of Ozturk’s attorneys and a staff attorney at Sharp, said in a statement Friday.
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Ozturk is one of several foreign students who have had their visas revoked and are pending deportation after taking part in anti-Israel protests, many of which turned violent or featured conduct deemed antisemitic and sparked hundreds of legal complaints.
Another anti-Israel foreign national facing deportation is Mahmoud Khalil, who led protests where pamphlets written by Hamas were distributed. A federal judge ruled earlier this week that the government must defend the legal basis for seeking Khalil’s deportation.
