A federal judge granted bail to Tufts University student R\u00fcmeysa \u00d6zt\u00fcrk on Friday, freeing her from federal immigration custody more than six weeks after the Trump administration revoked her visa and arrested her.<\/p>\n
U.S. District Judge William Sessions ruled that \u00d6zt\u00fcrk raised substantial First Amendment and due process claims, saying the government had given no justification for detaining her other than a student newspaper op-ed she co-authored criticizing Tufts\u2019s response to Israel’s war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is absolutely no evidence that she has engaged in violence or advocated violence. She has no criminal record,\u201d Sessions, an appointee of former President Clinton, said at the end of Friday\u2019s three-hour hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has done nothing other than essentially attend her university and expand her contacts within the community in such a supportive way,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
The judge ordered \u00d6zt\u00fcrk to submit to monthly check-ins and some supervision measures but put no restrictions on her travel, saying she didn\u2019t pose any flight risk or danger to the community.<\/p>\n
The ruling came after \u00d6zt\u00fcrk testified in what amounted to her most extensive public comments since plainclothes officers arrested her near her Somerville, Mass., home on March 25, days after the administration revoked her visa.<\/p>\n
Appearing via video from the South Louisiana Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in an orange jumpsuit, \u00d6zt\u00fcrk appeared to hold back tears as the judge handed down his ruling from the bench, taking notes at times.<\/p>\n
Earlier Friday, she testified at length about her asthma. She said the condition was previously well-maintained but that she has experienced a dozen asthma attacks since her arrest. Minutes after her testimony concluded, she indicated she was having another attack, and the judge briefly excused her to go to the bathroom to address her symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely think that stress and anxiety and the physical tiredness, hunger because of the whole process of being carried across different places really increased my stress, and I think really increased my asthma,\u201d \u00d6zt\u00fcrk said.<\/p>\n
She also complained of the medical team at the Louisiana facility, indicating a nurse during one of her visits forcefully removed her hijab.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nurse told me that \u2018you need to take that thing off your head,\u2019\u201d \u00d6zt\u00fcrk recounted.<\/p>\n
The government did not cross-examine \u00d6zt\u00fcrk, and its arguments largely rested on ones the judge has previously rejected. The administration has emphasized visa revocations are within the administration\u2019s discretion, contending \u00d6zt\u00fcrk must bring any challenges in immigration court and that federal district judges have no jurisdiction to intervene.<\/p>\n
\u00d6zt\u00fcrk\u2019s case comes as part of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration on international students who have expressed pro-Palestinian support, efforts that have included revoking their legal status and initiating removal proceedings.<\/p>\n
\u00d6zt\u00fcrk, a Turkish national, had a far less visible role in campus activism compared to other students who have sued, such as Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, organizers of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.<\/p>\n
As the hearing was ongoing, an appeals court declined to lift a similar court order that released Mahdawi from immigration custody.<\/p>\n
Sessions had previously signaled sympathy with \u00d6zt\u00fcrk\u2019s challenge and ordered authorities physically return her from Louisiana to a facility in Vermont. An appeals court had set a deadline of Wednesday for that action.<\/p>\n
But now, Sessions\u2019 order requires the government to release \u00d6zt\u00fcrk from custody entirely until he makes a definitive ruling the constitutionality of her detention.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to know immediately when she\u2019s released,\u201d the judge said before adjourning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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