Cases of two international students detained by Trump administration to be heard in appeals court
They are also pushing to have the Öztürk and Mahdawi cases consolidated into one, an idea lawyers for Öztürk and Mahdawi oppose, records show.
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Lawyers for both Öztürk and Mahdawi contend they have had their First Amendments rights violated because the government has moved to deport them - they are both legally in the US - solely due to their public stances on the Gaza war.
Mohsen Mahdawi speaks outside the courthouse after a judge released the Palestinian student activist on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 in Burlington, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
Amanda Swinhart/Associated Press
They were both seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during the
Öztürk was studying child and human development at Tufts University when she was taken into custody by masked ICE agents in Somerville on March 25 after the Trump administration revoked her student visa. She was taken to New Hampshire, then Vermont, and then to the detention facility in Louisiana where she remains.
Öztürk, 30, was a coauthor of an opinion piece in the Tufts student newspaper that expressed pro-Palestinian views. She was seized during the
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A Turkish national, Öztürk has chronic asthma and said in court papers she has had to endure crowded and contaminated dorms, 45-minute asthma attacks, and uncontrollable coughing.
'It has become progressively harder to recover from these asthma attacks while in detention,' she said in court papers. 'I am very concerned about the severity of these attacks and my ability to manage them.'
Mahdawi, who was active during the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University in 2024,
'Immigration detention cannot be motivated by a punitive purpose. Nor can it be motivated by the desire to deter others from speaking,' Crawford wrote, while referencing the Red Scare and
Mahdwai, 34, recently completed coursework at Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before beginning a master's degree program there in the fall. He has gained supporters across Vermont and New York, including US Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch.
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The three judge panel in New York is composed of Alison J. Nathan, appointed by President Biden; Susan L. Carney, appointed by President Obama; and Barrington D. Parker, who was nominated by President George W. Bush.
John R. Ellement can be reached at
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