BURLINGTON, VT – U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III denied a request to order ICE to release Rümeysa Öztürk—the Tufts student detained and currently being held in a Louisiana prison—on bail, according to the Boston Globe.
The Boston Globe reports Judge Sessions this week would not consider the request because he needs to determine if he has jurisdiction over Öztürk’s petition that questions the “legality of her detention.”
The Boston Globe wrote Judge Sessions decided “if the court lacks jurisdiction” on Öztürk’s case, then it has “no authority” to rule on her petition.
During the telephone conference, Judge Sessions went on to schedule a hearing for April 14 and expects all briefs related to the jurisdiction and bail to be filed by the lawyers and the government, the Boston Globe pens.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher said the federal government agreed with Judge Sessions’ decision that the jurisdiction of the case has to be decided before the petition is considered, the Boston Globe states.
The federal government wanted Öztürk’s case to be decided by immigration court and law to gain jurisdiction of the case, and that would determine the state of her visa and ICE’s request to deport her, writes the Boston Globe.
One of Öztürk’s lawyers, Ramzi Kassem, asked Judge Sessions to release Öztürk so that she could go home and maintain her academic career, the Boston Globe added, noting Öztürk is a Turkish national earning her doctorate at Tufts.
On March 25, Öztürk was taken by ICE agents after her visa had been revoked four days earlier, the Boston Globe recounts.
The night of her detainment, Öztürk’s lawyer filed a petition to challenge her detention with the U.S. District Court in Boston, the Globe reported, adding Öztürk had been moved to Vermont that night and was flown to Louisiana the next day.
For 24 hours, Öztürk—unable to be located by her family, friends or attorney—reportedly had an asthma attack, the Boston Globe reported, adding that because the legal challenge was filed in Massachusetts, the federal judge in Boston could not determine the legality of her arrest, argues the Justice Department.
The Boston Globe writes the US government’s request to move Öztürk’s case to Louisiana and dismiss her petition was denied by a federal judge in Boston.
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper prevented the government from deporting Öztürk, unless the Vermont Court ruled differently, and ordered the case be moved to Vermont so that Öztürk’s visa revocation and detainment could be challenged, said the Globe.
Öztürk’s attorneys claim, wrote the Globe, her arrest was a result of an op-ed she co-authored last year that denounced Tufts’ response to the pro-Palestine movement, and was a violation of her “First Amendment right to free speech.”
Her detainment comes at a time in which the Trump Administration works to deport non-citizens who engaged in protests that were deemed as illegal, the Boston Globe reported, adding the Administration’s actions are a part of a “wider crackdown” targeting universities.
Öztürk’s university, Tufts, submitted an affidavit that determined that the op-ed did not violate university policies, the Boston Globe said.
According to the Boston Globe, the ordeal has prompted students, public officials, immigrant and religious advocates, and over 100 rabbis to publicly oppose Öztürk’s detainment and “call for her release,” and protestors gathered outside of the JFK building in Boston to advocate for her freedom.
