Latest news with #WilliamK.SessionsIII
Roya News
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
Tufts Turkish student released after six weeks in ICE detention
US District Judge William K. Sessions III ordered on May, 9 the immediate release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, who had been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over six weeks. The decision marks a setback for the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown targeting noncitizen activists, particularly those accused of antisemitism or supporting pro-Palestinian causes. Ozturk, 30, was apprehended by masked, plainclothes ICE agents on March 25, 2025, while walking to an Iftar dinner in Somerville, Massachusetts, to break her Ramadan fast. Surveillance footage of the arrest, which went viral, showed agents surrounding her, seizing her phone and backpack, and placing her in an unmarked vehicle. Her student visa had been quietly revoked days earlier, and she was swiftly transferred through New Hampshire and Vermont before being flown to an ICE detention center in Basile, Louisiana, where she was held in an overcrowded cell. The government's case against Ozturk hinged on a 2024 op-ed she co-authored in The Tufts Daily, criticizing Tufts University's response to student demands to acknowledge the 'Palestinian genocide' and divest from companies tied to Israel. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused her of engaging in activities supporting Hamas but provided no evidence beyond the op-ed. Ozturk's legal team, led by attorneys Mahsa Khanbabai and Ramzi Kassem, argued that her detention was an unconstitutional retaliation for exercising her First Amendment right to free speech. Judge Sessions, in his ruling, expressed severe doubts about the constitutionality of Ozturk's detention, stating there was 'no evidence' against her beyond the op-ed. He warned that her detention could 'chill the speech of millions and millions' of noncitizens. The judge also cited due process violations and health risks, noting Ozturk's chronic asthma, which worsened in detention, leading to multiple asthma attacks. During the bail hearing, Ozturk testified via Zoom from the Louisiana facility, describing overcrowded conditions and her deteriorating health. The ruling allows Ozturk to return to her home in Somerville without travel restrictions, though her deportation case remains active in immigration court. Her release follows a series of legal battles, including a denied bond request in April by a Louisiana immigration judge, who deemed her a 'flight risk' and 'danger to the community' based on a one-paragraph State Department memo. Ozturk's attorneys condemned the detention as a deliberate attempt to silence advocates for Palestinian rights, pointing to a broader pattern of visa revocations targeting hundreds of international students. The Turkish embassy closely monitored the case, advocating for Ozturk's release, while Tufts University President Sunil Kumar praised her research and affirmed her good immigration standing prior to the visa revocation. Protests in Boston and on Tufts' campus demanded her freedom, reflecting widespread criticism of the administration's tactics. Ozturk's release is the latest legal blow to the Trump administration's immigration policies, following a similar ruling for a Palestinian Columbia University student. 'We are relieved and ecstatic,' Khanbabai said, though she noted the detention lasted '45 days too long' for what was 'simply writing an op-ed that called for human rights and dignity.'
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.
