¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

/

Updated May 7, 2025 at 2:48 PM EDT

An appeals court in New York on Wednesday rejected a motion by the federal government to delay or block Rümeysa Öztürk’s transfer to Vermont for a hearing.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion hearing arguments from both parties. The ruling says the government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its case and that it failed to show “irreparable injury� would result from moving Öztürk.

Lawyers with the Department of Justice had argued that an order by a lower court to transfer Öztürk to Vermont to for a bail hearing should be overruled, contending the federal judge there lacks jurisdiction. But the appeals court judges said the government’s jurisdiction arguments didn’t stand up, and ordered immigration officials to transfer the Tufts University student to Vermont by next Wednesday.

“Any confusion about where habeas jurisdiction resides arises from the government’s conduct during the twenty-four hours following Öztürk’s arrest,� the judges wrote in their opinion, citing agents moving her in secret across state lines.

The Department of Homeland Security indicated it would continue to fight the case. In an emailed statement, spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, “Being granted a visa to live and study in the United States is a privilege not a right. Today’s ruling does not prevent the continued detention of Ms. Ozturk, and we will continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country.�

For six weeks, Öztürk, a 30-year-old Turkish doctoral student has been at a remote, privately operated detention facility in Louisiana where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds detainees. Her hearing scheduled for this Friday was still on the Vermont court’s calendar at midday; it could be held remotely.

On March 25, Öztürk  by plainclothes immigration agents in Somerville, placed in an unmarked SUV and taken away, unaware that her student visa had been revoked days earlier. For nearly 24 hours, agents refused to let her contact her lawyer as they shuffled her across three states and eventually to Louisiana.

Federal judges in Massachusetts and Vermont have both ruled that a challenge to ICE’s arrest and detention of Öztürk should play out in Vermont � not Louisiana � given that’s where Öztürk was located when her attorney filed a habeas petition challenging her detention as unlawful.

Federal Judge William Sessions in Vermont later ordered Öztürk be transferred to ICE custody in his state so she could attend her upcoming hearings in person. The government appealed last week.

But in their ruling, the three judges on the New York appeals panel rejected the government’s arguments about jurisdiction, saying Vermont “is likely the proper venue� since that’s where Öztürk was physically located at the time her attorney filed an initial habeas corpus petition.

Her attorneys contend she was detained in retaliation for co-writing an op-ed critical of Israel last year � a violation of her free speech and due process rights. The appeals court judges appeared to agree: “Such an act would be a violation of the Constitution � quite separate from the removal procedures followed by the immigration courts,� they wrote.

The government had argued that Öztürk’s detention is inextricably linked to her removal order and that statutory provisions strip district courts of jurisdiction to hear her petition.

The judges disagreed, stating that the two matters are separate.

“No one should be arrested and locked up for their political views. Every day that Rümeysa Öztürk remains in detention is a day too long,� Öztürk attorney Esha Bhandari said in a statement after the ruling was issued. We’re grateful the court refused the government’s attempt to keep her isolated from her community and her legal counsel as she pursues her case for release.�

____

This is a developing story; it will be updated.

This article was originally published on

Copyright 2025 WBUR