(image: wikipedia)
An immigration court has blocked the deportation of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University who was detained by US immigration officials near her home in Massachusetts, according to court documents filed by her lawyers on Monday.
As per reports, Öztürk’s attorneys said the immigration court ruled on January 29 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had failed to prove she was removable from the United States. The court also terminated the removal proceedings against her, they said in a letter submitted to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, which has been reviewing aspects of her case.
The DHS has the option of appealing the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals, the notice added.
Öztürk, who is pursuing a PhD examining children’s relationship with social media, was arrested last March while walking on a street near her home. Her detention came amid a broader crackdown by the Trump administration on foreign-born students and activists involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy. She had co-authored an opinion article criticising her university’s response to Israel and the war in Gaza.
Video footage circulated at the time showed masked agents handcuffing her and placing her in an unmarked vehicle.
A petition seeking her release was initially filed in federal court in Boston before being transferred to Burlington, Vermont. Öztürk was released in May from a Louisiana immigration detention centre and has since returned to the Tufts campus outside Boston.
In earlier proceedings, a federal judge reportedly said Öztürk had raised serious concerns regarding her First Amendment and due process rights, as well as her health. The federal government appealed the decision to release her to the 2nd Circuit.
Her lawyers have told the appeals court that the government could seek to detain her again if it chooses to challenge the immigration court’s ruling.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said visas granted to foreign students to live, study and work in the United States are “a privilege, not a right”, but did not directly address its plans in Öztürk’s case.
Reacting to the latest development, Öztürk said she was relieved by the court’s decision. In a statement released through her attorneys, she said it was heartening to see that justice could prevail and expressed hope that her case might offer encouragement to others who believe they have been wronged by the US government.
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