A federal judge granted bail to Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk on Friday, freeing her from federal immigration custody more than six weeks after the Trump administration revoked her visa and arrested her.
U.S. District Judge William Sessions ruled that Öztürk raised substantial First Amendment and due process claims, saying the government had given no justification for detaining her other than a student newspaper op-ed she co-authored criticizing Tufts’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
“There is absolutely no evidence that that she has engaged in violence or advocated violence. She has no criminal record,” Sessions, an appointee of former President Clinton, said at the end of Friday’s three-hour hearing.
“She has done nothing other than essentially attend her university and expand her contacts within the community in such a supportive way,” he continued.
The judge ordered Öztürk to submit to monthly check-ins and some supervision measures but put no restrictions on her travel, saying she didn’t pose any flight risk or danger to the community.
The ruling came after Öztürk testified in what amounted to her most extensive public comments since plainclothes officers arrested her near her Somerville, Mass., home on March 25, days after the administration revoked her visa.
Appearing via video from the South Louisiana Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in an orange jumpsuit, Öztürk appeared to hold back tears as the judge handed down his ruling from the bench, taking notes at times.
Earlier Friday, she testified at length about her asthma. She said the condition was previously well-maintained but that she has experienced a dozen asthma attacks since her arrest. Minutes after her testimony concluded, she indicated she was having another attack, and the judge briefly excused her to go to the bathroom to address her symptoms.
“I definitely think that stress and anxiety and the physical tiredness, hunger because of the whole process of being carried across different places really increased my stress, and I think really increased my asthma,” Öztürk said.
She also complained of the medical team at the Louisiana facility, indicating a nurse during one of her visits forcefully removed her hijab.
“The nurse told me that ‘you need to take that thing off your head,’” Öztürk recounted.
The government did not cross-examine Öztürk, and its arguments largely rested on ones the judge has previously rejected. The administration has emphasized visa revocations are within the administration’s discretion, contending Öztürk must bring any challenges in immigration court and that federal district judges have no jurisdiction to intervene.
Öztürk’s case comes as part of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration on international students who have expressed pro-Palestinian support, efforts that have included revoking their legal status and initiating removal proceedings.
Öztürk, a Turkish national, had a far less visible role in campus activism compared to other students who have sued, such as Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, organizers of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
As the hearing was ongoing, an appeals court declined to lift a similar court order that released Mahdawi from immigration custody.
Sessions had previously signaled sympathy with Öztürk’s challenge and ordered authorities physically return her from Louisiana to a facility in Vermont. An appeals court had set a deadline of Wednesday for that action.
But now, Sessions’ order requires the government to release Öztürk from custody entirely until he makes a definitive ruling the constitutionality of her detention.
“I would like to know immediately when she’s released,” the judge said before adjourning
