Judge Rejects Deportation Effort Against Tufts PhD Student
An immigration judge has denied the Trump administration's attempt to deport Rümeysa Öztürk, a PhD student at Tufts University, who was detained last year amid government actions targeting pro-Palestinian activists on college campuses, according to her attorneys on Monday.
Öztürk's legal team submitted details of the immigration judge's ruling in a filing with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. The court had been reviewing a prior decision that resulted in her release from immigration detention in May.
On January 29, an immigration judge determined that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to prove that Öztürk was subject to removal and consequently terminated the deportation proceedings, her lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reported.
Her immigration attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, stated that the ruling was issued by immigration judge Roopal Patel in Boston.
This ruling effectively concluded, at least temporarily, the proceedings that began when Öztürk was arrested by immigration officials in March on a street in Massachusetts following the revocation of her student visa by DHS.
The only reason provided by authorities for revoking her visa was an editorial she co-authored in Tufts' student newspaper the previous year, which criticized the university's response to Israel's war on Gaza.
"Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the US government," Öztürk said in a statement.
The immigration judge's decision itself has not been made public, and the administration retains the option to appeal the ruling to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which operates under the US Department of Justice.
DHS, responsible for overseeing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, did not respond to requests for comment.
Background of Arrest and Detention
Öztürk, who researches child development, was arrested in Somerville, a suburb of Boston. The arrest was recorded on video that went viral, eliciting widespread shock and criticism from civil rights organizations.
The former Fulbright scholar was detained for 45 days at a facility in Louisiana. Subsequently, a federal judge in Vermont, where she had briefly been held, ordered her immediate release after determining she had presented a substantial claim that her detention amounted to unlawful retaliation infringing upon her free speech rights.
