Judge Orders Release of Rümeysa Öztürk, Tuft Student Detained by ICE

A federal judge on Friday ordered the immediate release of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish Ph.D. student at Tufts University who had been held for six weeks in an immigration detention center, ruling that her arrest and continued confinement were unlawful and raised serious constitutional concerns.

Judge William K. Sessions III of the U.S. District Court in Vermont found that Öztürk, who was detained in March after co-authoring a pro-Palestinian op-ed in her campus newspaper, had been targeted for her speech in a manner that violated her First Amendment and due process rights. The ruling is a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration’s use of visa revocations and deportation proceedings against foreign students accused of dissenting from U.S. foreign policy.

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“There is no evidence here… absent consideration of the op-ed,” Sessions said in court, describing the government’s case as hinging entirely on her protected speech. “Her continued detention cannot stand.”

Öztürk, who appeared virtually from an ICE facility in Louisiana, was ordered released without restrictions on her travel, allowing her to return to her home in Massachusetts.

The ruling was announced as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was in the midst of a briefing with reporters. When asked about the decision, Leavitt suggested Sessions had overstepped. “We’ve made quite clear that lower level judges should not be dictating the foreign policy of the United States,” Leavitt said.

Sessions’ order comes amid mounting scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s policy of revoking student visas on the basis of perceived political threats. Since returning to office, Trump has directed his administration to act aggressively against foreign nationals who the Administration has alleged are undermining American interests, particularly in the context of criticism of Israel and campus protests against the war in Gaza.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who revoked Öztürk’s visa, said her presence in the U.S. was contrary to American foreign policy interests and suggested she had aligned herself with groups hostile to Jewish students. A State Department memo cited the op-ed she co-authored and alleged links to a student organization that was temporarily suspended by Tufts.

“We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses,” Rubio told reporters. “If we’ve given you a visa and then you decide to do that, we’re going to take it away.”

The administration has provided no evidence of criminal activity or direct support for a terrorist group, and immigration authorities have not charged her with a crime. But the Department of Homeland Security has argued that visa holders like Öztürk can be expelled at the discretion of the executive branch.

Judge Sessions forcefully rejected that view, warning that the government’s actions could chill speech by “millions and millions” of noncitizens who live, study, and work in the United States.

Öztürk’s detention had sparked national protest and viral outrage after video emerged of masked federal agents surrounding her on a Somerville, Mass., sidewalk in March and forcing her into an unmarked vehicle. Since then, she has been held over 1,300 miles away in Louisiana, where her health has deteriorated significantly according to her lawyers. They said she suffers from chronic asthma and has experienced repeated attacks in detention—including one during Friday’s hearing.

“I believe the world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room,” Öztürk said in a statement read by her attorney in early April. “Writing is one of the most peaceful ways of addressing systemic inequality. Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children.”

The ruling marks the second time in recent weeks that a Vermont federal judge has ordered the release of an international student caught in the Trump administration’s visa crackdown. Last month, Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered the release of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University who was detained for participating in campus protests.

The administration has argued that such revocations fall squarely within the executive branch’s authority. “We absolutely believe the President and the Department of Homeland Security are well within their legal rights to deport illegal immigrants,” Leavitt said Friday. “As for visa revocations, the Secretary of State has the right to do that as well. It is a privilege, not a right to come to this country on a visa.”

But Öztürk, 30, was in the U.S. legally on a student visa when she was apprehended. Legal experts say her case could set precedent on whether visa-holders have constitutional rights in immigration custody, and whether political expression can lawfully trigger removal proceedings.

While Judge Sessions’s ruling pertains only to her release from detention, the Trump administration’s broader deportation case against Öztürk is expected to proceed in immigration court.