Judge Orders Turkish College Student Who Co-Wrote College Paper Editorial to Be Released from Custody ‘Immediately’

A federal judge has ordered Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish college student who seen in a viral video from March being arrested by masked Department of Homeland Security agents, to be released from custody “immediately” after oral arguments at a hearing Friday.

Öztürk is a doctoral student at Tufts University who is in the U.S. on an F-1 student visa. She was a Fulbright Scholar who had previously earned a master’s degree from the Teachers College at Columbia University as well as working at as a research assistant at Boston University, according to her now-deleted LinkedIn page.

On March 26, 2024, Öztürk was one of four Tufts students who co-authored an op-ed in the college newspaper that criticized Tufts’ response to the Israel-Gaza war and resolutions passed by student groups. DHS and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement cited the op-ed as the reason for her arrest.

One year and a day later, heavily-armed federal agents in plainclothes and masks apprehended Öztürk as she walked down a sidewalk near where she lived in Massachusetts, as shown in surveillance video that went viral on social media. The agents seized her phone, handcuffed her, put her into a vehicle, and drove away. Attorneys with the Department of Justice said she was taken to a detention facility in Louisiana. Tufts University issued a statement that it had not been notified of the arrest ahead of time and had not provided any information about her to federal authorities, and said that the government had informed it that Öztürk’s student visa had been “terminated.” DHS later confirmed that her visa had been revoked.

Öztürk’s family and legal counsel could not locate her for hours, as she was not allowed to contact anyone until after she was in Louisiana, about 24 hours after her arrest. Her attorneys filed a habeas petition in Massachusetts, her last known location, and the court ordered her not to be removed from the state, but she was already in Vermont and ICE agents continued with her transfer to Louisiana.

The district court ordered her to be transferred to immigration custody in Vermont, scheduled a bail hearing for May 9 and a hearing on the habeas petition for May 22. The government challenged the order and filed an emergency motion for a stay. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit initially granted the stay but ultimately ruled in Öztürk’s favor, denying the government’s motion, vacating the stay, and ordering her to be transferred to Vermont by May 14.

Adam Klasfeld, editor-in-chief of All Rise News, reported on Friday’s hearing. (Disclosure: Klasfeld was previously the managing editor of Law&Crime, another Abrams Media outlet.)

U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III for the District of Vermont presided over the hearing, ruling in Öztürk’s favor on multiple constitutional grounds. She and her legal counsel appeared virtually from an immigration detention facility in Louisiana after waiving her right to an in-person hearing to expedite the proceedings.

“These are very substantial claims of First Amendment and due process violations,” said Sessions, stating that she was likely to prevail on her claims.

Accordingly, the judge continued, “her continued detention cannot stand,” because it “chills the speech of the millions and millions of people who are not citizens,” and therefore she must be released “immediately.”

The judge had scoffed at the federal government’s argument that the Tufts newspaper editorial on its own was enough to justify her continued detention. “That literally is the case,” he said. “There is no evidence here as to the motivation absent the consideration of the op-ed.” The government called zero witnesses to testify for its side.

Öztürk’s asthma problems were prominently discussed during the hearing, relevant because of how that exacerbates the “harm” of her ongoing detention. During her testimony, she told the court that her asthma “previously had been well controlled,” reported Klasfeld, but was triggered during the fear and stress of her arrest.

Öztürk described how her asthma attacks had increased in frequency and severity during her detention because of the stress and exposure to chemicals and detergents, the cramped facilities, visible presence of rodents and insects, and other aggravating factors. When the judge commented that the records showed she had suffered eight attacks while in custody, her attorney replied that there have been more since then; she later testified that she had had four more attacks for a total of twelve so far.

After receiving medical treatment for one attack, Öztürk added, gesturing to her hijab, a nurse told her to “take that thing off my head.”

She also suffered an asthma attack during the hearing, and excused herself to go to the bathroom, giving her attorneys consent to continue the hearing in her absence until she could return.

At the end of the hearing, Sessions issued what Klasfeld described as a “thundering ruling,” finding that she had “substantial claims” for both First Amendment and due process violations, was likely to eventually prevail on those grounds, and the government had provided “no evidence that she engaged in violence or advocated violence.”

Chris Geidner at LawDork provided additional reporting on the hearing, highlighting Sessions’ comments during the hearing that he had made multiple requests for the government to show why it had arrested Öztürk, revoked her visa, and detained her in order to hold a deportation hearing, but no evidence had ever been provided other than that single op-ed she co-authored.

Right before issuing his ruling, according to Geidner, Sessions rejected the government’s arguments that Öztürk presented a danger or “risk of flight.”

“I do not find that any of the contacts that she has in the community create any danger or risk of flight,” the judge said.

Sessions ordered the government to release Öztürk on bail, and for her to be granted permission to travel freely within Massachusetts and Vermont. A written opinion is expected soon.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonpartisan free speech advocacy nonprofit, was part of a coalition that spoke out against the government’s detention of Öztürk. In the wake of Friday’s ruling, FIRE Supervision Senior Attorney Conor Fitzpatrick issued the following statement that was provided to Mediaite:

“No one in America — citizen or not — should fear the government’s wrath for speaking their mind,” said FIRE Supervising Senior Attorney Conor Fitzpatrick. “The government, instructed by the court to provide evidence supporting her detention at today’s hearing, had nothing. No witnesses, no exhibits, and they didn’t even cross-examine her. It is shameful how this administration has treated her.”

This article has been updated with additional information.