On Monday morning, a federal judge in Burlington heard arguments for the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University student who was detained by ICE in March.Ozturk was briefly held in Vermont before her transfer to a detention facility in Louisiana, so her lawyers filed a petition while she was still here.Attorneys on both sides were still arguing about everything from who has jurisdiction to where her appeal should have been filed.Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher argued on behalf of immigration authorities. He said that the district court judge doesn’t have jurisdiction to release Ozturk because her case is an immigration case.Ozturk had several lawyers in the courtroom on Monday.They argued that her arrest was unconstitutional and claimed that she does not need to be imprisoned to go through the removal process—and that she was never notified that her visa was revoked before her arrest.Her attorneys also claimed that the government used her arrest to send a message to people who speak out against the Trump administration’s beliefs.The arrest was related to an op-ed Ozturk wrote at Tufts University condemning the war in Gaza.Activists from the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation rallied for her release on Monday morning. “We’re here today in solidarity with her, demanding her immediate release and reparation be paid to her and her all her rights as a student, as a person in this country, be immediately reinstated. And a public apology issued by the Trump administration,” Ashley Smith, a protest organizer, said. “Our democracy is at stake, and we will not be intimidated. We will not go back into the shadows. We will defend everybody under attack, without exception,” he said.The judge wants to schedule another hearing for May.NBC5 has a reporter in Burlington and will have more information when it becomes available.
On Monday morning, a federal judge in Burlington heard arguments for the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University student who was detained by ICE in March.
Ozturk was briefly held in Vermont before her transfer to a detention facility in Louisiana, so her lawyers filed a petition while she was still here.
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Attorneys on both sides were still arguing about everything from who has jurisdiction to where her appeal should have been filed.
Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher argued on behalf of immigration authorities. He said that the district court judge doesn’t have jurisdiction to release Ozturk because her case is an immigration case.
Ozturk had several lawyers in the courtroom on Monday.
They argued that her arrest was unconstitutional and claimed that she does not need to be imprisoned to go through the removal process—and that she was never notified that her visa was revoked before her arrest.
Her attorneys also claimed that the government used her arrest to send a message to people who speak out against the Trump administration’s beliefs.
The arrest was related to an op-ed Ozturk wrote at Tufts University condemning the war in Gaza.
Activists from the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation rallied for her release on Monday morning.
“We’re here today in solidarity with her, demanding her immediate release and reparation be paid to her and her all her rights as a student, as a person in this country, be immediately reinstated. And a public apology issued by the Trump administration,” Ashley Smith, a protest organizer, said.
“Our democracy is at stake, and we will not be intimidated. We will not go back into the shadows. We will defend everybody under attack, without exception,” he said.
The judge wants to schedule another hearing for May.
NBC5 has a reporter in Burlington and will have more information when it becomes available.
