Judge Orders Tufts Grad Student Rumeysa Ozturk Be Released on Bail From Immigration Detention
Ozturk's continued detention "potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens," said U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III.

On Friday, a judge ordered the government to immediately release Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk on bail from a federal immigration detention center. The judge said Ozturk's challenge of her arrest raised serious claims of due process and First Amendment violations, and that her continued detention "potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens."
U.S. District Judge for the District of Vermont William K. Sessions III said the government's failure to produce any evidence against Ozturk besides an op-ed she helped write for the Tufts student newspaper suggested that she was detained for protected First Amendment speech. Citing the extraordinary circumstances of her case, the chilling effects of her continued detention, and Ozturk's medical testimony, Sessions found that Ozturk's detention could not stand and ordered her released on her own recognizance without restriction on travel.
The ruling is a loss for the Trump administration's campaign to deport student visa holders for speaking in favor of Palestine and participating in pro-Palestine protests. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed sweeping powers to revoke the visas of foreigners that the federal government deems harmful to its foreign policy interests and have them arrested without a warrant or criminal charges.
"Rumeysa can now return to her beloved Tufts community, resume her studies, and begin teaching again. We could not be more delighted," Noor Zafar, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a press release. "Today's ruling underscores a vital First Amendment principle: No one should be imprisoned by the government for expressing their beliefs."
Immigration agents snatched Ozturk off the street near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, on March 25. She was then whisked away to Vermont, followed by an immigration detention center in Louisiana before she was allowed to speak with a lawyer.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed that Ozturk "engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans." However, the only evidence it could provide, even after prodding from Sessions, was an op-ed Ozturk helped write that called on Tufts to divest from Israel.
Ozturk filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her arrest and detention.
At her court hearing on Friday, Ozturk testified via Zoom from the Louisiana detention facility where she has been held for more than six weeks. She said she suffers frequent and severe asthma attacks. She also testified that a nurse ordered her to take her hijab off when she was trying to get help for one of those attacks.
"The nurse said 'take the thing off my head,'" Ozturk said.
The Trump administration's legal arguments in Ozturk's and similar cases have alarmed civil rights groups and federal judges. In another student visa case, a federal judge compared the tactics to the Red Scare and Palmer raids. Free speech groups have also condemned Ozturk's arrest.
"It is unthinkable that a person in a free society could be snatched from the street, imprisoned, and threatened with deportation for expressing an opinion the government dislikes," the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) wrote in an amicus brief filed last month in support of Ozturk.
Ozturk still faces deportation, but Sessions' ruling is welcome pushback against the Trump administration's thuggish campaign to silence disfavored speech.
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Which part of government holds power over Visas by law? What are the conditions of those visas?
Yeah nothing in this article addresses how the administration's actions are beyond their legal authority or how this judge has jurisdiction.
Congress.
Bullshit.
Liying pile of lefty shit.
And false despite having the actual laws linked to you dozens of times at this point.
Congress? No they don't you dumbass. When you apply for a Visa you apply to the Dept of State which is an executive branch agency not Congress. Visa's especially student visa's can be revoked at the pleasure of the State Department. She is advocating for a terrorist organization which directly conflicts with the interests of America. She can have all the free speech she wants but she can do it where she came from not here.
I know it's rhetorical, but:
The executive branch of the U.S. government holds power over visas. Specifically, the Department of State and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) play key roles. The Department of State manages the issuance of both immigrant and non-immigrant visas, while USCIS oversees lawful immigration and adjudicates applications for naturalization, visas, and work permits.
Based on laws passes by Congress. Otherwise none of that would be needed.
Yeah laws that give the executive full authority. Are you too stupid to understand that you're just agreeing with Idaho-Bob?
So Congress passed legislation authorizing the Executive power over visas. What's your complaint then?
Why is it ok for Trump to wield unconstitutional laws you like and ignore unconstitutional laws you don’t like? Because you don’t give a fuck about the Constitution, that’s why. You just want a strongman who will smite people you hate. That’s it.
Visas are unconstitutional?
They’re not in the document and didn’t exist until 1924.
Which laws are unconstitutional?
And who do those laws give determination of visa status to molly?
False and illogical.
So now no one comes here for purpose of study and is grateful !! She can hold any view she wants but she is not a citizen and I am.
The President has zero obligation to allow courts to grossly overstep their assigned powers.
And the courts have zero obligation to allow him to grossly overstep his.
As a TDS-addled slimy pile of shit, you haven't provided evidence of other than your raging case of TDS.
Fuck off and die, asshole.
You fascist fuck will shit your pants in the opening days of the war and you won't last long.
Get reamed with a barb-wire wrapped broomstick, you slimy pile of lefty shit.
We have Al
The guns, all the training, and have actually been in real fights before. If you punks get too uppity you will be wiped out in a few weeks.
You democrats are a bunch of pussies.
I'm so glad you've gone full leftist in believing courts dont have to follow the law.
But that is wrong. The only obligaiton of the Courts is their opinion on the law.They have no executive power and that is what you want to give them. Lincoln once asked his Cabinet what he should do and they all said X and he said Thanks (and meant it) and did Non-X Lincoln could say , " Seven noes and one aye ; the ayes have it . "
Are you really defending the right/ability of the government to warrantlessly snatch people off the street and disappear them to the other side of the country for writing something? Leave aside what was written. It wouldn't matter if she authored a defense of cannibalism.
That's just wrong. Unless you're some Russian shill and already live in a country like that I don't know how anyone could think that's okay. Blink twice if Putin has your family in a black site prison.
Long TDS here. Fuck off and die, shit-pile.
It is called expedited removal you retarded leftist shit.
But your maddow like emotive language shows you don't actually care about the laws.
Even going with the russia accusations lol.
Meanwhile you demand the open borders marxism to take from citizens to give to foreigners and get outraged when citizens complain. What a good little Marxist you are. Demanding theft without complaint.
Open borders nuts gotta be opened borders nuts.
Trump defenders want a dictator. Proof? They say he’s above Congress, SCOTUS, the law and the Constitution. And they want his word to be law. That’s the definition of a dictator. A one-man government.
Following congressional law is being above congress?
If Trump was following the law we would not be in this situation.
If MG had a room temperature IQ, s/he wouldn't be posting lies like this.
Fuck off and die, shit stain.
Cite? Oh yeah, Tony is too dumb to be able to cite anything.
I watched the Biden interview on the View Are you really saying that letting in MS-13 and Tren de Aragua with the moms and children was helping the immigrants !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep whacking that strawman, you'll get him one of these days, precious.
If they are not citizens of the US then I don't care if the government snatches them off the street and deports them if they engage in actions such as protests or "occupations" that are not in the USA's interest. I wish they would deport more of them.
Great, nice to know you spit in the face of the law.
It's clear as crystal, shit for brains. Courts have very clearly ruled that constitutional protections apply to any legal resident, not just citizens. Punishing a citizen for expressing an unpopular opinion would be a glaring violation of the 1A, so punishing someone here on a student visa is an equally glaring violation. Only retarded fuckwits find that hard to understand.
So, she's *from* MA, *incarcerated* in LA, but a judge in VT decides to intervene? Because that judge has universal jurisdiction now?
I think the area of Mass she was in falls under the jurisdiction of the VT District Judge
Yes, you fuckwit. Shipping her around randomly is not a legal way to dodge the courts. A violation of the law is a violation of the law, and it's painfully obvious that the government is violating the law here.
Why is she still here? Detain her, put her on the next plane back home and be done.
For what, libel against the king? I'm still not seeing any evidence she engaged in any crime.
How about instead of deporting her we embrace her culture and execute her?
Ot would be racks not to!
Are you stupid, evil, or stupidly evil?
India and Pakistan are now basically at war, and it's a great example of what Islam can do to your country.
Pakistanis and Indians are basically impossible for anyone who is not them to tell apart, but they hate each other? Why, because of Islam. Hinduism is a pretty crappy religion, what with the cow worship and the castes, but they do generally get along okay with Buddhists and Sikhs
Letting in radical Muslims like this chick who hates America, hates the West, and wants to force Islam on everyone is how you end up with the Indian/Pakistani conflict.
Trump straightened them out. Everyone is chill now.
I watched Biden on the View and seems it is not nice to make immigrants support the basic principles of the country. Evidently Biden thinks it's horrible to make anyone coming into the country to do anything. And , oh yeah. he knew Kamala would lose and he could have handily beaten Trump. That's your man
I see zero evidence she's a "radical Muslim" who "hates America" or wants to force Islam on others. I see plenty of evidence that the criminal Trump regime is seeking to illegally punish someone for plainly legal behavior. But then I'm not a retarded Trump shitfister, so what do I know?
If you have to resort to legal status in a debate about right and wrong, you have declared you are incapable of thinking for yourself.
You have declared that government is your God.
I freaking love illegal immigrants. Heroes
No one would give a shit about their status as legal/illegal if they just lived 20 to a 1 room 3rd story walkup with no electricity, no running water and no healthcare.
But Rick, that is the very reason you can't see the Truth. How many of those 20 would be Tren de Aragua or MS-13. YOU invite people in the country, feel saintly, and leave them to worse conditions than they left. YOU OWE IT TO THE MOMS AND CHILDREN TO EXTERLMINATE MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. You can't see it
Well, you can in your comfortable home sitting by the Internet broadcasting like Che Guevara in a designer bathrobe.
Great. Arrest her again and get her out of country before the Courts can get their pants on. We know that works.
We need to start arresting judges too.
Yea, but it'll be a lot harder to do anything about them. They're American citizens, after all.
But the non-Americans? They have ZERO legal rights in this country. The judges want to pretend otherwise, but they know as well as I do that once a non-American is no longer in America, there isn't a single ding dang diddly thing they can do about it.
Judges pretending otherwise need to be removed from the bench, 100%. They can huff and puff and rationalize jurisprudence until they're blue in the face - but the simple fact is that American courts have no authority over any non-American not in America.
Which is why the deportations have to happen FAST. Like, an hour after you're arrested and slated for deportation, you're out of American airspace. The Courts have NO power whatsoever at that point. Doesn't even matter where you send them. Just get them out of American airspace, and kick them out of the back of the plane with a parachute. That's 100% legal. And possibly even necessary if other nations start refusing us access to their airspace to dump the border jumpers.
They know it, the left knows it, the media knows it - and they can't do ANYTHING about it. THAT'S what they're so pissed about.
Arrest them, verify their non-citizenship, and then get them on the next plane out. That's all we gotta do. And we have the tech available to us that we can do this before the Courts can do anything about it. Heck, give 'em a pistol whipping on the way out as a warning not to try and break back in. They have no rights or recourse in the American Justice System whatsoever.
Completely wrong as a matter of law, not that I'd expect anything better of you. US law is crystal clear: everyone is entitled to due process. Kidnapping people in the dark of night, denying them a chance to defend themselves, and then rushing them out of the country to try and evade the law is a crime. When you're shipping them off to foreign torture prisons it's a crime against humanity, even if they're real criminals.
US law is crystal clear: everyone is entitled to due process.
Yea, and they got it. You're arrested, you're discovered not to be an American citizen - you're out. That's due process respected for any non-American. Want to prove otherwise? Tell me how a non-citizen criminal alien or a revoked visa-holder even gets access to the American court system when they're no longer in America.
I'll wait.
Kidnapping people in the dark of night, denying them a chance to defend themselves, and then rushing them out of the country to try and evade the law is a crime.
1) It's not kidnapping. It's lawful arrest.
2) Nobody has denied them anything. They have between arrest and the outgoing flight to seek remedy.
3) It's not "evading the law" to remove a person who is not a citizen and has no right to be here.
When you're shipping them off to foreign torture prisons it's a crime against humanity
Yea, but it's not our crime. Unless you think we should be running all the countries in the world and telling them what to do with their citizenry or guests.
Which, I'm OK with that if we want to start a global conquest and make every country into America and start exterminating and cultural/ideological identity that doesn't comport with American values. I really am. I'll take that over your open borders globalist clown world nonsense any day of the week.
Arrest her for what, fuckwit? Engaging in clearly protected speech? Maybe we should arrest you for being an anti-American retard.
Language.
And arrest her for nothing more than being a non-American in America. Revoke her visa, round her up, and ship her out. This silly game we're playing with them has more than reached its point of exasperation.
She said she suffers frequent and severe asthma attacks. She also testified that a nurse ordered her to take her hijab off when she was trying to get help for one of those attacks.
WAH. WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH.
Then self-deport, lady. You can go get all the asthma medication and hijib fashion you want in a place anywhere other than America.
Everybdoy here admits that this non-citizen added hate and violence and discord to the country. Some are okay with that and some aren't BUT at base no one dares say that that excuses bringing them here.
Just face the facts you won't face.
IF X adds to civil unrest WE SHOULD NOT DO IT
The kindest spin I can put on your bullshit is support for the heckler's veto. No one has shown one iota of evidence that she added any violence to anything. The 1A was written specifically to protect unpopular speech, as anyone who isn't an addled dickwit knows. If speech adds to "unrest" then crack down on those who engage in violence, not those engaging in legal behavior.
C. J. , again you get it exactlly wrong
I am a college teacher. These foreigners given the exquisite possiblity to attend an American school are not thereby entitled to stir up anger, contention, fighting among citizens of the US just because they want to do so.
I invite you to dinner and you re-paint my house. C. J. , you need to talk to my co-workers, my students, my neighborhood. They deplore you attacking our rights, which you do regularly
If your retardation is "normal", I want nothing to do with normal. If student "protesters" engage in violence or deny others the legal use of public facilities, arrest the shit out of them. If they say things you don't like, fuck all the way off. Here in the good ol' US of A, freedom of speech applies to everyone.
Cue the violin .....Tufts tuition for the 2022-23 school year was $65,222
Society nor government is under any obligation to non citizens to ignore noxious beliefs or activities, or otherwise continue to allow them to remain in our country no questions asked.
Come back when you have something actually dangerous to freedom of US citizens.
Courts say different. In the good ol' US of A, freedom of speech applies to everyone, not just people who agree with your particular flavor of bullshit.
I offer you $5 that I didn't have to offer and you say "I need at least $20" See, this view that if you help others it has to go to the max -- all that does is denigrate your prior responsibilities
Mrs. Jellyby, satiric character in the novel Bleak House (1852–53) by Charles Dickens, one of his memorable caricatures. Matronly Mrs. Jellyby is a philanthropist who devotes her time and energy to setting up a mission in Africa while ignoring the needy in her own family and neighbourhood.
I invite you to Turkey Dinner on Thnaksgiving , you show up and say "Well, I am a vegetarian so I won't eat that" THEN someone at the table berates you for violating the role of the host. Exaclty analogous to this monstrosity. She is going to a damn expensive college, she is getting here what she couldn't get where she came from and now normal folks have to feel guitly that this student can't shoot her mouth off. This is what is killing Libertarianism
"When the ballot question explicitly includes independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and independent Cornel West, Harris receives 44% and Trump 41%. Kennedy is supported by 9%, Oliver receives 2%"
2% and you act like "you the man"