NEW YORK – Attorneys for Rümeysa Öztürk submitted documents in federal court today announcing that removal proceedings against the Tufts University Ph.D. student have been terminated by an immigration judge. Ms. Öztürk is represented in immigration court by Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Immigration Law and Kerry Doyle, of Green and Speigel.
“Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government," said Rümeysa Öztürk. "Though the pain that I and thousands of other women wrongfully imprisoned by ICE have faced cannot be undone, it is heartening to know that some justice can prevail after all. I grieve for the many human beings who do not get to see the mistreatment they have faced brought into the light. When we openly talk about the many injustices around us, including the treatment of immigrants and others who have been targeted and thrown in for-profit ICE prisons, as well as what is happening in Gaza, true justice will prevail.”
On March 25, 2025, Ms. Öztürk was detained by plainclothes ICE agents in Somerville, Massachusetts in retaliation for an op-ed she co-authored in the Tufts Daily. Her legal team filed a petition and complaint with the federal court in the District of Massachusetts challenging her unconstitutional detention by ICE and arguing that it violated the First and Fifth Amendments. Without informing the court or her counsel, ICE had shuttled her across state lines to Vermont—where she was at the time of her habeas petition being filed, resulting in the case ultimately being transferred to the District of Vermont—and eventually to a detention facility in Louisiana.
On May 9, six weeks after her arrest, a Vermont District Court judge ordered Ms. Öztürk’s release from detention on bail. The government appealed an earlier transfer order from the District Court to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments were heard by a three-judge panel on September 30, 2025, and a decision is still pending.
“The Trump administration has weaponized our immigration system to target valued members of our communities, including scholars like Rümeysa,” said Mahsa Khanbabai of Khanbabai Immigration Law, “It has manipulated immigration laws to silence people who advocate for Palestinian human rights and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Secretly revoking the visa of someone who has maintained their lawful immigration status as an excuse to detain them and place them into deportation proceedings is Kafkaesque. With this ruling, Judge Patel has delivered justice for Rümeysa; now, I hope that other immigration judges will follow her lead and decline to rubber stamp the president’s cruel deportation agenda.”
“This decision underscores the importance of allowing federal courts to review challenges to immigration detention” said Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts. “Without federal court jurisdiction, the government could punitively and unlawfully detain any noncitizen for months based solely on their speech so long as it simultaneously began removal proceedings, even where, as here, an Immigration Judge ultimately agrees that there is no lawful basis for removal. It is for this reason that habeas proceedings have been and remain a fundamental bulwark against the unconstitutional loss of liberty. "
On December 5, 2025, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that Ms. Öztürk’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System record was wrongfully terminated and must be reinstated, allowing her to fully participate in her educational and training program once more. While the government filed a notice of appeal of this decision on February 6, 2026, her SEVIS record remains reinstated. On January 22, 2026, another federal judge in Massachusetts determined in AAUP v. Rubio that the government’s policy of arresting and detaining scholars like Ms. Öztürk violated the First Amendment, and documents released as part of the case confirmed that the government targeted her solely on the basis of the op-ed.
A copy of the 28J letter filed in federal court is available here.
Ms. Öztürk is represented by the ACLU, ACLU of Massachusetts, ACLU of Vermont, CLEAR, Emery Celli Abady Brinckerhoff Ward & Maazel LLP, Mahsa Khanbabai, and Kerry Doyle.
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