Federal judge moves legal case of detained Tufts University student to Vermont
A federal judge in Boston on Friday denied the Trump administration's requests to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was detained by undercover agents last week in Somerville, Massachusetts.
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper also denied the government's alternative request to transfer the case to Louisiana, where Ozturk is being held. Casper notes that Ozturk was not held in Louisiana at the time of her petition.
Instead, Casper decided Ozturk should have the opportunity to have her case heard in Vermont.
The order also enjoins the government from removing Ozturk from the country, at least for now.
Ozturk, 30, who is from Turkey and in the United States on a student visa, was taken to a detention center in Louisiana. The federal government said Ozturk was taken out of state because there was no room for her in New England facilities.
Video below: Attorney reads Ozturk's statement
A timeline provided by the government indicates that agents left Somerville with Ozturk at 5:49 p.m., stopped briefly in Methuen, then departed for New Hampshire and eventually Vermont, arriving there by 10:28 p.m. Ozturk was flown out of Burlington, Vermont, at 5:31 a.m. the next day.
This was all despite a court order that she was to remain in Massachusetts.
Additionally, for at least 24 hours after her arrest, her attorneys and even the government’s lawyers did not know her location.
"There was a deliberate effort to take her out of Massachusetts and hide her location and not let anyone know where she was until she was in Louisiana," said Ozturk's attorney, Adriana Lafaille.
Casper determined the case should be heard in Vermont, where Ozturk was being held at the time the petition was filed.
Surveillance video showed ICE agents taking Ozturk into custody. She is accused by the federal government of "taking part in activities that supported Hamas," but officials have not revealed any evidence in the case.
Video below: Video shows federal agents detaining Tufts student
Her lawyers believe she was targeted for taking a pro-Palestinian stance.
"More than a week after her arrest it is clear the only reason the federal government arrested and detained her was because of a single op-ed she co-authored," Rossman said.
Ozturk is a co-author of an op-ed last year that called for Tufts to acknowledge genocide in Palestine and divest from companies with ties to Israel. Kumar told the court that Tufts does not believe the op-ed violated any university policies.
"Writing is one of the most peaceful ways of addressing systemic inequality," Ozturk said in the statement read by her attorney. "Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.