A federal judge in Vermont ordered immigration officials Friday to release Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk immediately from a Louisiana detention center where she’s been held for six weeks. He said she’s free to return to her home in Massachusetts.
Judge William Sessions made his order from the bench, saying he found serious claims “of both due process and first amendment violations” in her arrest in Somerville in March.
He said her worsening asthma condition was a consideration of her release, and her need to continue her doctorate studies. He also said the government’s only evidence presented over the past three weeks was an opinion piece Öztürk wrote criticizing Israel’s war in Gaza.
“There is no evidence here,” Sessions said, other than the op-ed.
Sessions declined to put a travel restriction on Öztürk, despite the government’s request. He said she’s engaged in an academic career which could require her to attend out-of-state programs.
The judge said his impression was that “this is a woman just totally committed to her academic career.” He said he found no evidence she was involved in violence or criminal activity and therefore presents no risk of flight.
Sessions called Öztürk’s experience “a traumatic event.” She is scheduled to appear next in the Vermont court on May 22.
Tufts University spokesman Mike Rodman in a statement said the school was pleased with the decision: “We look forward to welcoming her back to campus to resume her doctoral studies,” he said, adding that she’s a student in good standing. “and nothing in her co-authored op-ed of March 26, 2024, in The Tufts Daily student newspaper violated either the university’s gatherings, protests, and demonstrations policy or its Declaration on Freedom of Expression.”
This story is developing; it will be updated.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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