Federal Appeals Court Orders Detained Tufts Student Back to Vermont for Hearings
A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a ruling mandating the transfer of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, back to Vermont from a Louisiana immigration detention center. The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a government request to delay the transfer, emphasizing Ozturk’s right to participate in hearings about her detention.
Ozturk, 30, has been held for over six weeks following her involvement in an op-ed criticizing Tufts’ response to Israel’s actions in Gaza. Her attorneys argue that her detention infringes on her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process. Originally detained after immigration officials surrounded her in a Boston suburb, Ozturk was relocated without timely legal representation, which raised concerns about her rights.
A Vermont district court had previously ordered Ozturk’s transfer for hearings to assess her detention’s legality. The appeals court affirmed that Vermont was the appropriate jurisdiction for her case, dismissing the government’s claim that her immigration proceedings should continue in Louisiana.
As per the latest ruling, Ozturk is to be transferred to ICE custody in Vermont by May 14, with hearings set for release on bail occurring shortly thereafter. The court highlighted the importance of Ozturk’s physical presence at these proceedings, rejecting government claims of logistical hurdles for remote participation.
The Department of Homeland Security had asserted without evidence that Ozturk supported Hamas, a designation that has raised alarms about the potential misuse of political speech as a basis for detention. Ozturk’s attorney, Esha Bhandari, decried her continued detention and expressed gratitude that the court prioritized her rights.
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