A Trump administration request to dismiss or transfer a case involving a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkey who has been detained by immigration authorities was denied by a federal judge on Friday. Instead, the proceedings were moved to Vermont.
Judge Denise Casper denied the government’s request to dismiss the case against Rumeysa Öztürk or move it to the Western District of Louisiana.
“Although the Petition raises serious issues about the conduct of her arrest and detention as alleged in each of these Counts, the Court must first address the jurisdiction dispute before reaching the merits of the Petition,” stated Casper’s order.
The order continued, “The government’s motion to dismiss this Petition or transfer the matter to the Western District of Louisiana was denied by the Court, which, based on the ‘interest of justice,’ decided to transfer the case to the District of Vermont, where Ozturk was held overnight when the Petition was filed.”
Rumeysa Öztürk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, was detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, March 25. (AP)
A DHS spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that she was “granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa” and that “DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.”
In March 2024, Öztürk co-authored an op-ed in the Tufts Daily, calling on the university to divest from Israel.
Öztürk’s Massachusetts attorney accused the Trump administration of “forum shopping,” saying that ICE moved the student to Louisiana, where courts might be less favorable toward her case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office argued that federal authorities moved Öztürk to Louisiana because there was no available room in Massachusetts to hold her until trial. They said that she was first sent to Vermont, but later moved to Louisiana.
Hundreds of people gathered on March 26 in Somerville to demand the release of Rumeysa Öztürk, following her arrest by federal agents. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
