A US judge on Friday ordered the release of a Turkish student detained by federal agents as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism.
Judge William Sessions said Rumeysa Ozturk, a Ph.D student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, should be released “immediately” from custody while her removal proceedings continue.
Ozturk’s student visa was revoked by the State Department after she co-authored an article in the university newspaper The Tufts Daily criticizing the college’s handling of student anger around Israel’s war in Gaza.
Video of her March 25 arrest by masked agents on a sidewalk sparked outrage online, and added to concerns about freedom of speech and respect for due process under Trump.
Sessions echoed the concerns during Friday’s live-streamed custody hearing, at which Ozturk appeared remotely from a detention center in Louisiana.
“Continued detention potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of individuals in this country who are not citizens,” the judge said.
“Any one of them may now avoid exercising their First Amendment rights for fear of being whisked away to a detention center from their home,” he said.
“The court finds that her continued detention cannot stand,” Sessions said. “The court orders the government to release Miss Ozturk from custody immediately.”
The judge said he was not putting any travel restrictions on Ozturk and she was free to return to her home in Massachusetts.
Ozturk is one of a number of foreign students facing deportation over their pro-Palestinian campus activities, and she still faces removal proceedings.
Tufts University has publicly backed Ozturk, demanding her release so she can return to the school and complete her doctoral studies in child development.
Jessie Rossman, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which was among the groups representing Ozturk, welcomed her release.
“For 45 days, Rumeysa has been detained in Louisiana,” Rossman said. “During that time, she has suffered regular and escalating asthma attacks.
“And at the same time, the government has failed to produce any justification for her detention,” Rossman said, adding that the ACLU “won’t stop fighting until she is free for good.”
Trump has targeted prestigious universities that became the epicenter of the US student protest movement sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators.
Critics argue that the campaign amounts to retribution and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and protect Jewish students.
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