Overview

• Judge William K. Sessions III ruled that Rumeysa Ozturk must be transferred from Louisiana to Vermont by May 1 as her legal case proceeds.
• Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, was detained by ICE on March 25 and had her student visa revoked for co-authoring a pro-Palestinian op-ed.
• Her detention involved secretive cross-country transfers, raising allegations of jurisdictional manipulation and restricted access to legal counsel.
• Upcoming hearings in May will address her bail eligibility and the merits of her constitutional habeas corpus challenge.
• Civil rights groups and academic institutions, including Tufts University, have condemned her detention as a violation of free speech and academic freedom.