🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a judge’s order to transfer Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, from an immigration detention center in Louisiana back to New England.
The ruling by a panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York followed arguments presented Tuesday by attorneys representing Ozturk and the U.S. Justice Department. Ozturk, who has been in custody for six weeks, must now be moved to ICE custody in Vermont no later than May 14.
The case centers on whether Ozturk’s constitutional rights were violated during her detention. A district court judge in Vermont had previously ordered her return to the state for hearings on the legality of her detention, citing possible violations of her free speech and due process rights. Ozturk was arrested by immigration agents on March 25 while walking in a Boston suburb, then transported across multiple states before being flown to a detention facility in Basile, Louisiana.
The Justice Department, which had appealed the Vermont judge’s ruling, argued that her case falls under the jurisdiction of an immigration court in Louisiana. Ozturk’s legal team maintains that her detention is unlawful and potentially retaliatory, pointing to her involvement in writing a 2023 op-ed in The Tufts Daily that criticized the university’s response to student demands for divestment from companies linked to Israel and recognition of alleged genocide against Palestinians.
In March, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson alleged—without providing evidence—that Ozturk had engaged in activities supporting Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Ozturk has denied the accusation, and no formal charges have been filed related to terrorism. The hearings in Vermont will examine the basis and legality of her arrest and continued detention.
This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information is available.
Reporting by the Associated Press contributed to this story.