Federal judge orders case of Tufts student in ICE custody moved to Vermont

A federal judge issued a Friday order transferring the case involving Rumeysa Özturk, a Tufts University graduate student detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to a jurisdiction in Vermont in the “interest of justice.”

“The government asserts that this Court lacks jurisdiction over the Petition as Özturk, unknown to anyone but the government, was in Vermont, not Massachusetts at the time the Petition was filed and, as of 2:35 p.m. on March 26, 2025, was in Louisiana, where she remains,” U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper for Massachusetts wrote in her order.

Casper, a former President Obama appointee, ultimately denied the Justice Department’s petition to have the case heard in the Western District of Louisiana and said that her order blocking Özturk from being deported should be upheld unless the transferee court objects to her ruling.

The judge said the Vermont jurisdiction would hear Özturk’s argument alleging that she was detained in violation of her Fifth Amendment right to due process and the Administrative Procedure Act while being targeted for removal in response to speaking out in support of Palestine.

Democratic lawmakers have drawn attention to the Turkish national who was detained by officers in plain clothes as shown in a viral recording that captured the Fulbright scholar screaming while being removed. The incident comes as multiple other foreign students have been federally detained in Louisiana. 

“The rationale for this arrest appears to be this student’s expression of her political views,” a group of 30 Democrats wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE acting Director Todd Lyons. 

“We are calling for full due process in this case and are seeking answers about this case and about ICE’s policy that has led to the identification and arrest of university students with valid legal status,” they added.

The Service Employees International Union has also launched a campaign against her detainment. 

Özturk has requested to be released from custody pending adjudication.