Öztürk v. Hyde

On March 25, 2025, Rümeysa Öztürk, a PhD student at Tufts University, was grabbed, arrested, and detained in Somerville, MA, by plainclothes federal agents in retaliation for an op-ed she co-authored in a student newspaper. Ms. Öztürk is a former Fulbright scholar who came to the United States on a student visa.

Her legal team immediately filed a habeas petition and complaint with the federal court in the District of Massachusetts, challenging her unconstitutional detention by ICE and arguing that it violated the First and Fifth Amendments. A judge ordered Ms. Öztürk not to be removed from Massachusetts without prior notice. For nearly 24 hours, Ms. Öztürk’s attorney was unable to locate her. On March 26, government counsel informed her that Ms. Öztürk had been transferred to Louisiana. ICE had shuttled her across state lines to Vermont—where she was at the time of her habeas petition was filed—and eventually to a detention facility in Louisiana, over 1,300 miles from her community.

On April 4, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that Ms. Öztürk's federal case should continue in Vermont. On April 18, the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont concurred that Ms. Öztürk’s federal case should continue in Vermont and ordered the government to transfer her back to a facility in the state no later than May 1. The government appealed the transfer order from the District Court to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments were heard by a three-judge panel on September 30, 2025, and a decision is still pending.

On May 9, after six and a half weeks in detention, the Vermont federal court ordered the release of Ms. Öztürk on bail. She returned to her Massachusetts community to continue her studies while both her immigration and habeas cases proceeded.

On December 5, 2025, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that Ms. Öztürk’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System record was wrongfully terminated and must be reinstated, allowing her to fully participate in her educational and training program once more. While the government filed a notice of appeal of this decision on February 6, 2026, her SEVIS record remains reinstated. On January 22, 2026, another federal judge in Massachusetts determined in AAUP v. Rubio that the government’s policy of arresting and detaining scholars like Ms. Öztürk violated the First Amendment, and documents released as part of the case confirmed that the government targeted her solely on the basis of the op-ed.

On January 29, 2026, the immigration court held that the Department of Homeland Security had not met its burden of proving removability, and the immigration court thereby terminated removal proceedings against Ms. Öztürk.