U.S. Court Orders Trump Administration to Transfer Detained Turkish Student to Vermont for Bail Hearing
Ramseya Ozturk, a Tufts University student detained in Louisiana after writing a pro-Palestinian op-ed, will be moved to Vermont following a federal appeals court ruling rejecting the Trump administration's objections.
Watan-A U.S. federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to transfer Ramseya Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, from an immigration detention center in Louisiana to Vermont, where a judge will determine whether she should be released on bail.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New York, rejected the Trump administration’s request to halt a previous court order requiring the government to move Ozturk to Vermont within a week.
It remains unclear whether the previously scheduled Friday bail hearing before U.S. District Judge William Sessions in Burlington, Vermont, will proceed as planned. The administration may also attempt to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On April 18, Judge Sessions had ordered the transfer of Ozturk, stating that her case “raised significant constitutional concerns” about her arrest and detention, and warranted a “full and fair review.”
The judge added that evidence supported Ozturk’s claim that she was detained as punishment for writing an op-ed in the Tufts University student newspaper. The article criticized the university’s response to student calls for divestment from companies linked to Israel following the outbreak of war and for recognizing what she described as genocide against Palestinians.
The Trump administration appealed the ruling, arguing that Sessions lacked authority under federal immigration law to issue such an order and that the case did not belong in Vermont’s jurisdiction, since Ozturk was being held in Louisiana.
