A student at TUFTS University in Turkey returned to Boston, one day after being released from a Louisiana immigration detention center where she was detained for more than six weeks after being arrested for her political speech.
Rümeysa Öztürk told Logan airport journalists on Saturday that she was delighted to resume her studies during what was a “very difficult” period.
“In the past 45 days, I lost both my freedom and my education for a crucial period for my doctoral studies,” she said. “But I am so grateful for all support, kindness and care.”
On Friday, a federal judge ordered Öztürk’s release pending a final decision on her assertion that she was illegally detained following an editorial she co-written last year by criticizing her university’s response to Israel and the war in Gaza.
She has filed a legal action contesting her detention now assigned to the American district judge William Sessions in Burlington, Vermont. He granted his surety after concluding that she had raised substantial allegations that his rights were raped.
Öztürk said she would continue her case in court, adding: “I have confidence in the American justice system.”
“Today is a great day when we welcome you again, Rumeysa,” said Ed Markey, a Democratic Senator of Massachusetts. “You have returned millions and millions of people through our country so proud of the way you fought.”
Appearing by video for his hearing of the surety the day before, Öztürk, 30, detailed his growing asthma attacks in detention and his desire to finish his doctorate by focusing on children and social media.
The judge’s sessions judged that she had to be released from her own commitment without any travel restriction. It was not a danger to the community or a risk of theft, he said, while noting that it could change the order of liberation to examine the conditions of immigration and the application of American customs, or ice, in consultation with its lawyers.
Sessions said the government presented no evidence to explain why Öztürk had been arrested other than OP-ED.
The Executive Office of the US Ministry of Justice for the Immigration Examination did not respond to an email requesting comments.
Öztürk was one of the four students who wrote the opinion article last year in the Journal du Campus The Tufts Daily. He criticized the university’s response to militant students demanding that tufts “recognize the Palestinian genocide”, disclose his investments and deploy companies related to Israel.
On March 25, immigration officials surrounded Öztürk in Massachusetts and placed it in police custody. She was then taken to New Hampshire and Vermont and stole in a detention center in Basile, Louisiana.
Her student visa had been dismissed several days earlier, but she was not informed of this, said her lawyers.
Öztürk is one of the many international students held by the Trump administration on their pro-Palestinian plea on campus.
The lawyers of Öztürk first laid a petition on his behalf in the Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and could not speak to her until more than 24 hours after her detention. A Massachusetts judge then transferred the case to Vermont.
A service note from the State Department said that the Öztürk visa had been revoked following an assessment that its actions “can undermine the American foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for an designated terrorist organization, in particular the co-author of an editorial which found a common cause with an organization which was temporarily prohibited.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Security said in March, without providing evidence, that surveys revealed that Öztürk was delivered to Hamas supporting activities, which the United States has appointed as a terrorist group.
This week, a federal court of appeal confirmed the order of the sessions to bring back Öztü to New England for hearings in order to determine whether its constitutional rights, including freedom of expression and regular procedure, have been raped, as supported by its lawyers.
Immigration procedures for Öztürk, initiated in Louisiana, are carried out separately in this state and Öztürk can participate at a distance, the court said.
