The judge disturbs the legal case of the student of the Turkish University Tufts detained in Vermont

BOSTON (AP) – A federal judge moved on Friday the case of a doctoral student at TUFTS University detained in Vermont, where the Turkish national was briefly held before being transferred to an immigration detention center in Louisiana.

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken by immigration officials while walking along a street in the suburbs of Boston in Somerville on March 25. After being taken to New Hampshire and then Vermont, she was plane the next day and moved to an immigration and customs detention center in Basil, Louisiana.

Ozturk is one of several people with links with American universities who attended demonstrations or publicly expressed support for the Palestinians during the Gaza War and who had recently revoked visas or who were prevented from entering the United States

His lawyers have filed a request in the Massachusetts to request his release, but the lawyers of the Ministry of Justice argued that Ozturk’s request had been filed in poor condition, was to be rejected and that his case should appear before an immigration judge.

Ozturk’s lawyers said that when they had deposited the petition, they had no way of knowing where it was. They also noted that he had been deposited while Ozturk was in a vehicle under the control of the ICE officials based in Massachusetts, making the Boston court the appropriate place.

US District Judge Denise Casper filed the case at Vermont, where Ozturk was detained at the time of the petition.

Ozturk lawyers have said that his detention violates his constitutional rights, including freedom of expression and regular procedure. They had asked the judge to order that it was immediately returned to Massachusetts and released from the guard.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Homeland Security said last week, without providing evidence, that the surveys revealed that Ozturk was engaged in Hamas support, a terrorist group designated by the United States.

She was one of the four students who wrote an editorial in the Campus newspaper, the Daily tuffs, criticizing the university’s response last year to militant students demanding that Tufts “recognize the Palestinian genocide”, disclose its investments and deploy companies with links with Israel.

On Thursday, her lawyer published an Ozturk declaration in which she described her higher level research working with children and young people, and said that she would continue to defend herself against injustice.

“I believe that the world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room,” she wrote.

Originally published: April 4, 2025 at 12:59 pm PDT