A group of demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. District Court in Burlington to demand the release of Rumeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University graduate student from Turkey who was detained after co-authoring an op-ed on the Israel-Hamas war. After an appeal from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont, a federal judge reaffirmed his order to transfer Öztürk back to Vermont from Louisiana. The judge rejected the government’s request to halt the transfer order, and the administration of President Donald Trump is expected to seek emergency action from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
Öztürk, who was living legally in the U.S. on a student visa, was taken into custody by immigration officers last month after her visa was revoked. Her attorneys filed a lawsuit alleging unlawful detention, arguing that she was wrongly targeted in violation of her free speech rights. The federal judge ordered the government to transfer Öztürk back to Vermont, citing the detained student’s experiences in the Louisiana detention center, including overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.
A bail hearing for Öztürk is scheduled for May 9, and the U.S. Attorney for Vermont has indicated that the administration will seek emergency relief from the appeals court to halt her transfer. The judge ruled that the government had not shown any concrete injury if Öztürk was returned to Vermont and that a stay of transfer would harm Öztürk and not be in the public interest. The case highlights the ongoing debate over free speech rights and the treatment of immigrants in the U.S.
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