US immigration court blocks deportation of Tufts graduate student her attorneys say
An immigration court blocked the deportation of a Turkish Tufts University graduate student who was detained by immigration officials near her Massachusetts home, her attorneys said in court papers filed Monday.
Rümeysa Öztürk’s lawyers said the immigration court ruled on January 29 that the Department of Homeland Security had not proven that Öztürk should be deported from the United States.
The immigration court also halted Öztürk’s deportation proceedings, the lawyers said in a letter to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reviewed his case.
The department has the option to appeal the immigration court’s decision, its attorneys’ notice said.
Öztürk is a doctoral student who studies children’s relationship with social media. She was arrested last March while walking on a street as the Trump administration began targeting foreign-born students and activists involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy. She had co-authored an opinion piece criticizing her university’s response to Israel and the war in Gaza.
The video shows masked officers handcuffing her and putting her in an unmarked vehicle.
A petition for his release was first filed in federal court in Boston, then moved to Burlington, Vermont. Öztürk has been out of a Louisiana immigration detention center since May and is back on the Tufts campus outside Boston.
A federal judge said Öztürk expressed serious concerns about his First Amendment and due process rights, as well as his health. The federal government appealed his release to the 2nd Circuit.
Öztürk’s lawyers told the 2nd Circuit that the government could attempt to detain their client again if he appeals the immigration court’s decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return an email message seeking comment.
Öztürk said it was comforting to know that some justice can prevail.
“Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the flaws in the justice system, my case can provide hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government,” she said in a statement released by her lawyers.
