Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk has been released from an immigration detention facility in Louisiana hours after a federal judge ordered her to be freed.
“Thank you so much. I am a little bit tired, so I will take some time to rest,” she told reporters and supporters who were crowded outside the facility.
US District Judge William Sessions said the student met all the conditions needed for release and lambasted the government’s case against her.
Ms Otzurk, a doctoral student from Turkey, co-authored an opinion piece in her campus newspaper that was critical of Israel’s war. Her arrest follows the White House’s crackdown on what it has classified as antisemitism on US campuses.
“Her continued detention chills the speech of millions in this country who are not citizens,” the judge said on Friday as he ordered her release.
Ms Ozturk walked out the detention facility after six weeks greeted by cheers and with her hands on her heart.
She had been detained since March, when US immigration officials arrested her on the streets in Massachusetts. Videos of the arrest showed masked plain-clothes officers surrounding her after a Ramadan celebration, handcuffing her and then taking her into an unmarked car. Her detention sparked nationwide protests.
The US Department of Homeland Security had accused Ms Ozturk of “engag[ing] in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans”.
After the judge’s ruling, a DHS spokesperson responded: “Visas provided to foreign students to live and study in the United States are a privilege not a right. The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system, and will continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country.”
Earlier this week, the judge ordered that Ms Ozturk be transferred by 14 May to immigration authorities in Vermont, where she was last held before she was moved to Louisiana.
On Friday, Judge Sessions said that she should be released immediately without travel restrictions, so she can go to Vermont or Massachusetts, where Tufts is located, as needed.
He heard from a number of witnesses in the case, including Ms Ozturk, her doctor and a Tufts University professor. The government did not call any witnesses during Friday’s hearing.
During her testimony, which she offered virtually, Ms Ozturk told the court about her Fulbright scholarship and her PhD work. She said her asthma condition had worsened during her detention, and at one point she had to take a short break after suffering an asthma attack on camera.
Judge Sessions said Ms Ozturk had raised “very substantial” claims that her First Amendment right to free speech and her due process rights were violated. He said the only evidence the administration had against Ms Ozturk was her op-ed.
“That literally is the case,” he said, according to court reporters. “There is no evidence that she has engaged in violence or advocated violence.”
In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Ms Ozturk, said they were “delighted” by her release.
“Rümeysa can now return to her beloved Tufts community, resume her studies, and begin teaching again,” said Noor Zafar, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU. “Today’s ruling underscores a vital First Amendment principle: No one should be imprisoned by the government for expressing their beliefs.”
A spokesman for Tufts said the university is “pleased” with the judge’s ruling, adding: “We look forward to welcoming her back to campus to resume her doctoral studies”.
The Trump administration has detained several international students – some legal residents – who have organised in support of the Palestinians.
Last week, a judge ordered the government to release Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi after immigration officials detained him during a naturalisation interview.
The 34-year-old permanent resident was raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank and had been held at a facility in Vermont.
One of the highest profile cases thus far involves Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent pro-Palestinian activist, who remains in a Louisiana detention facility without charges.
