A federal judge in Vermont has granted a request for bail from a Tufts University student who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Federal Judge William K. Sessions III, appointed by former President Barack Obama, granted Rumeysa Ozturk’s request for bail on Friday, saying that her arrest raises significant due process and First Amendment concerns. Ozturk isn’t a U.S. citizen and is in the country on a student visa.
Sessions ordered her to be released immediately and determined that she is not a danger to the community or a flight risk. He said he wants to be updated when she is released and will impose modest restrictions on Ozturk if ICE requests them.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Ozturk in court, told Fox News Digital in a statement they are pleased with the ruling.
COURT ORDERS TUFTS UNIVERSITY STUDENT BE QUICKLY MOVED TO ICE CUSTODY IN VERMONT, DENIES GOVERNMENT APPEAL
Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., on Tuesday, March 25. (AP)
“Rumeysa can now return to her beloved Tufts community, resume her studies, and begin teaching again. We could not be more delighted,” said Noor Zafar, senior staff attorney with ACLU. “Today’s ruling underscores a vital First Amendment principle: No one should be imprisoned by the government for expressing their beliefs.”
During the hearing, Judge Sessions noted that Ozturk has asthma and added that her detention might have been having an impact on her health. Ozturk had an asthma attack during the hearing, which she attended remotely.
Sessions III also said that the government’s action by detaining Ozturk “chills the speech” of millions of non-citizens who are in the country.
TUFTS UNIVERSITY DECLARES SUPPORT FOR STUDENT DETAINED BY ICE, SEEKS IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rumeysa Ozturk on an apple-picking trip in 2021. (AP)
The federal judge said Ozturk is free to return to her Massachusetts home and didn’t place any restrictions on her travel.
On the same day Ozturk’s bail request was granted, a federal appeals court ruled that Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi can remain out of federal custody while a legal challenge against his detention is working through the court system, according to CBS.
The decision comes after the Trump administration sought to put Mahdawi back in federal custody.
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A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News on Wednesday that Ozturk had been “granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa” and that “DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.” (AP)
Ozturk was detained by ICE agents on March 26. Federal officials previously accused Ozturk of supporting Hamas.
Ozturk co-authored an article in the Tufts student newspaper calling on the institution to divest from Israel and criticized its response to the Israel-Hamas war.
