Related Articles
Rümeysa Öztürk — the Tufts University PhD student who was arrested by masked federal authorities on the streets near Boston and jailed for six weeks in Louisiana after writing a pro-Palestine op-ed — has been ordered immediately released on her own recognizance by a federal judge in Vermont.
“The court finds that Ms. Öztürk has raised a substantial claim of a constitutional violation,” Judge Williams Sessions ruled on Friday, adding that the government has provided no evidence that Öztürk poses any sort of risk, other than the op-ed. “That is literally the case. There is no evidence here,” Sessions said.
Öztürk is a Turkish citizen who has long studied in the United States on a student visa, and is currently enrolled in a doctoral studies at Tuft University’s Child Study and Human Development program. In March 2024, she co-authored an op-ed critical of the Trufts administration’s response to a student-government resolution “demanding that the University acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”
Öztürk was targeted by the Trump administration, ostensibly for this free speech activity. In late March of this year, Öztürk was seized in the streets near her residence in Somerville, Mass., by six plainclothes feds and whisked away in an unmarked SUV. The circumstances of her capture, which was caught on video, have been compared to a kidnapping.
The administration claimed in March that Öztürk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” but did not provide any evidence. The administration added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had revoked her visa, declaring her residency contrary to America’s foreign policy interests. Rubio said Öztürk was one of hundreds of students whose visa had been revoked. “We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” the secretary of state said.
Öztürk was shuttled to Louisiana where she was jailed in conditions that left her in ill health due to asthma attacks.
Öztürk’s case has become a cause célèbre for opponents of the Trump administration’s illiberal crackdown on pro-Palestinian students. (The administration claims it is combating “antisemitism.”) Her cause has been championed by the likes of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Aryanna Pressley, both members of Congress from Massachusetts. “Rümeysa, we can’t wait to welcome you home,” Pressley wrote after her release was ordered.
Following a jurisdictional dispute, Öztürk’s case was assigned to Judge Sessions in Vermont, who on Friday ordered that Öztürk be freed on bail immediately. He cited her asthma as a circumstance, but also found that the government’s claims that she posed a danger were nonsense. “There is absolutely no evidence that she has engaged in violence or advocated violence,” he reportedly said from the bench, adding: “This is a woman who is just totally committed to her academic career.”
Sessions said that Öztürk had a strong case that she was unconstitutionally targeted over her speech, and also said that her continued detention could chill the speech of millions of other non-citizen residents of this country. The judge found that Öztürk does not pose a flight risk — and has allowed her free movement throughout the United States.
While Öztürk has been ordered freed, the administration is expected to continue its efforts to deport her in immigration court.
