A Massachusetts federal judge has blocked the deportation from the US of a Turkish-born Tufts University doctoral student until further notice, pending a ruling on her habeas corpus petition.
US District Judge Denise Casper stopped the removal of Rumeysa Ozturk on Friday, ruling that the court can pause any deportation to maintain the status quo while determining if it has jurisdiction. She based her decision on existing federal precedents.
Ozturk's lawyer filed an amended petition on Thursday that challenged her removal, prompting the court to consider if there is a legal dispute on whether the court has jurisdiction to decide the case.
Ozturk's deportation, therefore, has been postponed until the court proposed a deadline of 5 pm local time (2200GMT) on April 1 to resolve the dispute.
Ozturk, 30, a Turkish PhD student and Fulbright scholar, was abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) late on Tuesday near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, while heading to an iftar dinner.
Her lawyer and family said she was arrested following a campaign by Canary Mission, a pro-Israel website that blacklists pro-Palestine students and activists, stemming from an article she wrote in 2024 criticising Israel.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the revocation of Ozturk's visa on Thursday and defended her arrest.
"We revoked her visa," Rubio said at a news conference in Guyana, referring to Ozturk's F1 student visa. "We give you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses."
Rubio, however. did not provide evidence linking Ozturk to violence.
CAIR says Rumeysa Ozturk's arrest is an "abduction" and an "alarming act of repression", while the Turkish Embassy in Washington says it is closely following the situation and is making every effort.
Crackdown on pro-Palestine students
Ozturk's case is among a growing list of incidents involving Donald Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestine students.
On March 8, authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist and a student at Columbia University. Trump hailed his arrest and said it was the "first of many."
Trump, without evidence, accused Khalil of supporting Hamas. Khalil denies links to the resistance group.
A few days after Khalil's arrest, Trump's claim came due after another pro-Palestine student, Badar Khan Suri, an Indian researcher at Georgetown University, was arrested. His attorney said he was arrested because of the Palestinian identity of his wife.
After the arrest of Suri, authorities went after another pro-Palestine student, Momodou Taal, asking him to turn himself in.
On March 25, Yunseo Chung, a pro-Palestine Columbia University student, sued the Trump administration to halt her deportation, saying authorities paid multiple visits to her residence to arrest her over her protests against Israel's genocide in Gaza.
