NEW YORK – The Trump administration’s attempt to delay the transfer of Rümeysa Öztürk from a Louisiana detention center to Vermont was rejected by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a lower court’s order. The ruling requires the government to complete the transfer within one week, according to a press release issued by the ACLU.
Esha Bhandari, Deputy Director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, stated in the release, “No one should be arrested and locked up for their political views. Every day that Rümeysa Öztürk remains in detention is a day too long. We’re grateful the court refused the government’s attempt to keep her isolated from her community and her legal counsel as she pursues her case for release.”
Öztürk, a Ph.D. student at Tufts University studying child development and a former Fulbright scholar, has been detained in Louisiana for the past six weeks. The ACLU reports that her arrest stemmed from co-authoring an op-ed published in her university’s student newspaper.
According to the ACLU, Öztürk was arrested on March 25 while speaking with her mother on the phone. Plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents surrounded her in Somerville, Massachusetts. For nearly 24 hours, Öztürk’s attorney was unable to locate her as ICE moved her through three detention facilities across three different states—including Vermont—before placing her in a Louisiana facility.
Mudassar Toppa, a staff attorney at CLEAR (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility), a legal clinic based at CUNY School of Law, emphasized, “Every day Ms. Öztürk spends in confinement is an affront to the Constitution. Her constitutional injury is only compounded by the deplorable conditions she must suffer through. Today, the court rightfully declined to play along with the government’s latest attempt to keep Ms. Öztürk separated from her community and legal counsel. We will continue to advocate for Ms. Öztürk until she is released.”
The ACLU asserts that, since arriving in Louisiana, Öztürk has been confined to a cramped room with 23 other women and little to no ventilation. In newly-filed court documents, she reports having suffered multiple asthma attacks that have “become progressively harder to recover from.” While her attacks previously lasted 5 to 15 minutes, they now reportedly last as long as 45 minutes. She is allegedly exposed to known asthma triggers, including insect and rodent droppings, and rarely has access to fresh air.
Further claims noted in the ACLU’s release include delays in medical care and dismissive remarks from detention center medical staff.
Jessie Rossman, Legal Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, commented, “Rümeysa has suffered six weeks in crowded confinement without adequate access to medical care and in conditions that doctors say risk exacerbating her asthma attacks. Her detention—over an op-ed she co-authored in her student newspaper—is as cruel as it is unconstitutional.” She added, “Today, we moved one step closer to returning Rümeysa to her community and studies in Massachusetts.”
Öztürk’s motions for release will be reviewed by a federal judge in Vermont on May 9. A hearing on the merits of her habeas corpus petition is scheduled for May 22.
Lia Ernst, Legal Director of the ACLU of Vermont, emphasized the broader implications of the case: “The government’s efforts to deny Rümeysa access to justice by deploying these gratuitous delay tactics have once again been rightfully blocked by the courts,” she said. “Today’s ruling affirms that her swift transfer to Vermont is essential, and we will continue fighting until she is free.”
Representing Öztürk in immigration court are attorneys Mahsa Khanbabai and Marty Rosenbluth. In federal court, she is represented by Khanbabai, with support from the ACLU, ACLU of Massachusetts, ACLU of Vermont, CLEAR, and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.
