Overview

• The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that ICE must transfer Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student, from Louisiana to Vermont by May 14 for hearings on her detention's legality.
• Ozturk has been detained for six weeks after ICE arrested her in Massachusetts, citing unsubstantiated allegations of ties to Hamas and her pro-Palestinian advocacy.
• Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, remains free on bail after a Vermont judge found substantial claims that his detention was retaliatory for protected speech.
• The Justice Department is appealing both cases, arguing federal courts lack jurisdiction over immigration detention matters, which it claims should be handled exclusively in immigration courts.
• The cases highlight broader concerns about free speech, due process, and the targeting of international students involved in pro-Palestinian activism under the Trump administration.