Judge grants bail to pro-Palestine student Ozturk as US campus crackdown escalates
A federal judge granted bail and ordered the immediate release of Tufts University student and pro-Palestine activist Rumeysa Ozturk from Louisiana immigration detention, amid a nationwide escalation of crackdowns on campus protests across the US.
Ozturka, a Turkish doctoral student, was held by US immigration authorities since March 25, when plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained her during a walk in her Somerville, Massachusetts neighborhood.
The Tufts University doctoral candidate remained confined in a Louisiana detention center until her recent release.
During Friday’s bail hearing, US District Judge William Sessions strongly affirmed that Ozturk presented compelling arguments regarding constitutional violations in her case.
The judge emphasized that her detention raised ”very substantial” concerns about First Amendment freedoms and due process rights, particularly given the politically charged revocation of her student visa under the Trump administration.
The Trump administration revoked her visa and initiated deportation proceedings based on an op-ed she co-wrote for Tufts University’s student paper.
A senior DHS official, Andre Watson, justified the action in a memo to the State Department, citing her “anti-Israel activism” and specifically referencing her article urging Tufts to “disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.”
Sessions, however, said “There is absolutely no evidence that she has engaged in violence or advocated violence.
“She has no criminal record. She has done nothing other than essentially attend her university and expand her contacts within the community in such a supportive way.”
In a swift rebuke of Judge Sessions’ decision, the Trump administration reaffirmed its stance on Ozturk’s case.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Friday: “We’ve made quite clear lower-level judges should not be dictating the foreign policy of the United States and we absolutely believe that the president and the Department of Homeland Security are well within their legal rights to deport illegal immigrants.”
Upon her release, Ozturk was greeted by cheering supporters, including representatives from her Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
SEIU President April Verrett released a statement following the court-ordered release of Rumeysa Ozturk, declaring: “Our work is not done until everyone who calls this country home gets to live with freedom and dignity and respect.”
Ozturk, a former Columbia University student, was “ambushed” by ICE agents while heading out for dinner with friends from her off-campus apartment, according to a statement from her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, provided to the Boston Globe.
A dramatic video, taken by a neighbor’s surveillance camera, dated March 25, shows a plainclothes federal agent approaching Ozturk on the street, followed by several other agents surrounding her before she was taken into custody.
The US president vowed to deport activists who took part in protests on US college campuses against Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
Columbia University has suspended over 65 students following a pro-Palestinian protest that had unfolded at the seat of learning’s Butler Library, a school official said on Friday.
Furthermore, a total of 33 individuals from affiliated schools have been barred from the university’s Morningside Heights campus.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Eric Lee and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Council (ADC), notes that these orders violate the First and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution by unlawfully restricting freedom of speech.
