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 attorney immediately filed a habeas petition, and 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 – 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 court stayed its order for four days to allow either party to appeal, which the government did, and set a bail hearing for May 9 and a hearing on the merits of the habeas petition on May 22.
On April 25, Ms. Öztürk’s legal team filed their opposition to the Trump administration's emergency request to pause a federal judge’s order requiring her transfer from an ICE detention center in Louisiana to Vermont by May 1. If granted, it could extend Ms. Öztürk's time by several months, where she reports unsafe and inhumane conditions.
Ms. Öztürk is represented in federal court by Mahsa Khanbabai, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Massachusetts, ACLU of Vermont, CLEAR, and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.
Immigration Court Updates
In addition to her habeas petition which is being heard in Vermont district court, Ms. Ozturk also has an immigration case that is being heard in Louisiana.
On April 17, an immigration judge denied Ms. Öztürk bond. The government’s entire case against her is based on the same one-paragraph memo from the State Department to ICE that just points back to an op-ed in a student newspaper. This decision only underscores the need for the federal court to intervene on her behalf and order her release as soon as possible.