Latest news with #ImmigrationandNaturalizationAct
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Columbus federal judge blocks transfer of Venezuelan detainee amid Alien Enemy Designation concerns
COLUMBUS, Ga. () – In a significant ruling on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Clay D. Land of the Middle District of Georgia granted a preliminary injunction preventing the transfer of a Venezuelan from the Stewart Detention Center to a terrorism confinement facility in El Salvador. The decision stems from a habeas corpus petition filed by the detainee, who fears being labeled an 'alien enemy' under the Alien Enemies Act and subjected to expedited removal from the United States without due process. The case, Y.A.P.A. v. Donald J. Trump, et al., comes as the national debate over immigration policy continues. Land was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush in 2001. The Stewart Detention Facility is located in Lumpkin, Ga., in Land's judicial district. Land's order was strongly worded. 'The public interest, while not always vocalized the loudest, requires that we remember that that these constitutional protections do not exist only for those attending lunch at the local Rotary Club, enjoying war stories at the VFW hall or having a beer at the Moose Club lodge,' the judge wrote. 'These rights are not rationed based upon political views, and they do not belong solely to those who may be subjectively determined to be great Americans. They extend to those whom many may consider to be the most repugnant among us.' Land did not stop there. 'This foundational principle is part of what has made, and will continue to make, America great,' he concluded. 'Consistent with the rule of law, it is the Court's job to make sure, without fear or favor, that we adhere to these principles. serves the public interest.' The petitioner, detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for allegedly being in the country illegally, is currently facing removal proceedings under the Immigration and Naturalization Act. However, he sought emergency relief to prevent his potential designation as an 'alien enemy' and transfer to the Center for Terrorism Confinement in El Salvador. The controversy centers on a recent presidential proclamation declaring the Tren de Aragua gang a 'Foreign Terrorist Organization.' ICE has claimed the petitioner is a known associate of TdA, based on his tattoos and social media activity, though he denies any affiliation. The Alien Enemies Act allows the president broad authority to detain and remove noncitizens deemed 'alien enemies,' a process that is significantly faster than standard immigration proceedings. A recent Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. J.G.G. mandates that detainees must receive notice and a meaningful opportunity for judicial review through habeas corpus before removal. Land's order found that ICE's current procedures, which allow as little as 12 hours to express intent to file a habeas petition and 24 hours to file it, do not meet constitutional due process requirements outlined by the Supreme Court in A.A.R.P. v. Trump. The court ruled that transferring the petitioner to El Salvador without an adequate opportunity to challenge an alien enemy designation would cause irreparable harm, violating his constitutional rights. The injunction prohibits ICE from removing the petitioner as an alien enemy until the government submits a revised removal process compliant with Supreme Court guidelines and the court issues further orders ensuring due process. Land emphasized that the ruling does not interfere with the government's ability to pursue removal under other legal authorities, such as the Immigration and Naturalization Act. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Appeals court orders Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk transferred to Vermont
May 7 (UPI) -- An appeals court on Wednesday ordered the federal government to comply with a lower court ruling to transfer Tufts University Ph.D. student Rumeysa Ozturk from a Louisiana detention facility to Vermont. The decision by the 2nd Circuit's three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration's request for emergency relief in the challenge to Ozturk's detention and arrived after it heard arguments on Tuesday on the Justice Department's bid to pause a judicial order requiring Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student, to be transferred to ICE custody in Vermont. The three-judge 2nd circuit said the Trump administration has until May 14 to comply with the transfer order. Ozturk was taken into custody by force by the armed agents near her Somerville, Mass., home on March 25, then sent to a Louisiana detention facility despite not being accused of a crime. In early April, Tufts University officials demanded her release "without delay." According to court documents, Ozturk was not notified beforehand. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration Customs Enforcement claim she "had been involved in associations that 'may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization.'" Ozturk, a Turkish national, co-wrote an op-ed critical of the university's administration and in support of three Tufts Senate resolutions demanding the university acknowledge "the Palestinian genocide" and divest from Israel. The university said her op-ed didn't violate any policies, saying it did not "constitute a violation of the University's understanding of the Immigration and Naturalization Act." Ozturk is currently being held at a Basile, Lou., immigration facility with a bail hearing scheduled Friday in a Vermont federal court in front of U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge orders detained Tufts student Rumeysa Öztürk to be transferred back to Vermont
A federal judge on Friday ordered that the Tufts University student who wrote an essay about Israel and the war in Gaza and is now fighting deportation must be transferred back to Vermont. Judge William K. Sessions III stayed his order for four days to give the government a chance to appeal. Rumeysa Öztürk, a 30-year-old Turkish national in the United States on a visa, is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana. In Friday's ruling, the judge refused efforts by the government to dismiss her habeas petition. He found that Öztürk 'has raised significant constitutional concerns with her arrest and detention.' The Tufts doctoral student was arrested March 25 in Somerville, Massachusetts, and the Department of Homeland Security has accused her of engaging 'in activities in support of Hamas.' She co-wrote an opinion essay in 2024 for the student newspaper that called on Tufts to 'acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,' which the undergraduate student government had demanded in a resolution. The essay criticized university leadership for its response to the student government's resolutions that it 'disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.' 'A university op-ed advocating for human rights and freedom for the Palestinian people should not lead to imprisonment,' one of her attorneys, Mahsa Khanbabai, said Friday. 'Our immigration laws should not be manipulated to rip people away from their homes and their loved ones.' Öztürk's attorneys called Friday's ruling a victory, and said that the federal government was trying to manipulate where her case would be heard so that it could try for its preferred outcome. Friday's ruling allows Öztürk to remain in ICE custody in Vermont while her habeas petition, which challenges her detainment, proceeds in federal court, as well as her removal case in immigration court in Louisiana. The Department of Justice declined to comment Friday. Öztürk is one of a number of international students in the U.S. on visas who the Trump administration is trying to deport for their actions protesting the conduct of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, which it launched after the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Tufts University has defended Öztürk and has petitioned that she be released from custody. The university said the opinion essay did not violate its policies and was in accordance with its position on free speech. "The University has no further information suggesting that she has acted in a manner that would constitute a violation of the University's understanding of the Immigration and Naturalization Act," the university leadership said in a declaration earlier this article was originally published on
NBC News
19-04-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Judge orders detained Tufts student Rumeysa Öztürk to be transferred back to Vermont
A federal judge on Friday ordered that the Tufts University student who wrote an essay about Israel and the war in Gaza and is now fighting deportation must be transferred back to Vermont. Judge William K. Sessions III stayed his order for four days to give the government a chance to appeal. Rumeysa Öztürk, a 30-year-old Turkish national in the United States on a visa, is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana. In Friday's ruling, the judge refused efforts by the government to dismiss her habeas petition. He found that Öztürk 'has raised significant constitutional concerns with her arrest and detention.' The Tufts doctoral student was arrested March 25 in Somerville, Massachusetts, and the Department of Homeland Security has accused her of engaging 'in activities in support of Hamas.' She co-wr ote an opinion essay in 2024 for the student newspaper that called on Tufts to 'acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,' which the undergraduate student government had demanded in a resolution. The essay criticized university leadership for its response to the student government's resolutions that it 'disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.' 'A university op-ed advocating for human rights and freedom for the Palestinian people should not lead to imprisonment,' one of her attorneys, Mahsa Khanbabai, said Friday. 'Our immigration laws should not be manipulated to rip people away from their homes and their loved ones.' Öztürk's attorneys called Friday's ruling a victory, and said that the federal government was trying to manipulate where her case would be heard so that it could try for its preferred outcome. Friday's ruling allows Öztürk to remain in ICE custody in Vermont while her habeas petition, which challenges her detainment, proceeds in federal court, as well as her removal case in immigration court in Louisiana. The Department of Justice declined to comment Friday. Öztürk is one of a number of international students in the U.S. on visas who the Trump administration is trying to deport for their actions protesting the conduct of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, which it launched after the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Tufts University has defended Öztürk and has petitioned that she be released from custody. The university said the opinion essay did not violate its policies and was in accordance with its position on free speech. "The University has no further information suggesting that she has acted in a manner that would constitute a violation of the University's understanding of the Immigration and Naturalization Act," the university leadership said in a declaration earlier this month.
NBC News
05-04-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil says his ICE arrest was an 'abduction'
A Columbia University student activist who led campus pro-Palestinian rallies and is now fighting the Trump administration's deportation efforts is urging students to continue demonstrations and protests. Mahmoud Khalil, who is in custody in Louisiana as his case moves through courts, called his March 8 arrest by immigration authorities an "abduction" in an op-ed published Friday in the Columbia Spectator. Titled 'A Letter to Columbia,' the piece was dictated and verified by his attorney, the student newspaper said. "Since my abduction on March 8, the intimidation and kidnapping of international students who stand for Palestine has only accelerated," Khalil said in the op-ed. He said Columbia's leadership has suppressed student dissent over Israel's war in Gaza, which it launched after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack by Hamas. Khalil is a lawful U.S. permanent resident with a green card, his attorney has said. His legal team has said his detention is a violation of his due process and First Amendment rights. Federal officials have said that he led activities 'aligned to Hamas,' which the United States has designated a terrorist organization. He has not been charged with committing any crime, and an attorney of his has said there is no evidence he has provided any kind of support to a terrorist organization. The Trump administration is seeking to deport him under a provision in federal immigration law that allows the secretary of state to deport noncitizens deemed a threat to U.S. foreign policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the State Department has revoked 300 or more student visas. 'Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,' Rubio said at a news conference in Guyana. In the op-ed, Khalil referred to other students who have been arrested and are facing deportation — including Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk. The Department of Homeland Security has said that Öztürk 'engaged in activities in support of Hamas.' Öztürk was one of several people who co-wrote an opinion piece in the Tufts University student newspaper that called on the university to label Israel's war in Gaza a 'genocide.' Tufts has defended Öztürk and said the opinion piece was consistent with speech permitted under its policies of free expression. 'The University has no further information suggesting that she has acted in a manner that would constitute a violation of the University's understanding of the Immigration and Naturalization Act,' Tufts said Wednesday. Khalil in his Columbia Spectator op-ed said that Öztürk and others have been snatched by the state. 'The situation is oddly reminiscent of when I fled the brutality of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and sought refuge in Lebanon,' Khalil said. Rubio has defended the revocation of visas by saying that, 'No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.' A judge has also temporarily blocked the planned deportation of Öztürk. The war in Gaza sparked student protests at universities across the country, with demonstrators calling attention to the civilian death toll as well as issues of Palestinian rights. Some have labeled the protests and behavior antisemitic. Columbia President Nemat 'Minouche' Shafik resigned in August, following months of criticism over protests on the Manhattan campus. The Trump administration last month canceled $400 million in federal funding to Columbia, accusing the university of "inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.' Columbia then agreed to a list of demands in order to start negotiations to try and restore the funding. Khalil in Friday's op-ed urged students to continue their efforts. "It is incumbent upon each of you to reclaim the University and join the student movement to carry forward the work of the past year," he wrote.
