A federal appeals court has ordered the transfer of a Turkish doctoral student detained for six weeks in a Louisiana immigration center back to New England, where a judge will weigh claims that her constitutional rights were violated.
The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled Wednesday in favor of Rümeysa Öztürk, a 30-year-old Tufts University student who was arrested on March 25 in a Boston suburb and flown to an ICE detention facility in Basile, Louisiana.
The panel sided with a Vermont district court judge who previously ordered Öztürk be brought back for hearings to determine whether her arrest and detention infringed on her rights to free speech and due process.
Öztürk must be transferred into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Vermont by May 14, the court said.
Öztürk’s case has drawn national attention, particularly among campus free speech advocates. She was one of four Tufts students who co-authored an op-ed in The Tufts Daily last year, criticizing the university’s stance on student activism and calling for acknowledgment of “the Palestinian genocide” and divestment from companies tied to Israel.
Her lawyers argue that the arrest and remote detention amount to retaliation for protected speech and an effort to silence dissent on U.S. campuses. The Justice Department, which appealed the Vermont ruling, maintains the immigration court in Louisiana has jurisdiction over her case.
The Department of Homeland Security has alleged – without providing public evidence – that Öztürk was involved in pro-Hamas activities.
After her arrest, immigration officers reportedly drove Öztürk across several state lines – from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and Vermont – before flying her to Louisiana.
The opaque chain of custody has raised questions about transparency and legal oversight in politically sensitive deportation cases.
