Judge blocks Trump admin's bid to move Tufts student case to Louisiana; sends it Vermont
A federal judge on Friday denied a Trump administration request to dismiss or move a case involving a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkey who has been detained by immigration authorities, instead moving the proceedings 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 as to the conduct of her arrest and detention as alleged in each of these Counts, before reaching the merits of the Petition, the Court must first address the parties’ dispute about its jurisdiction," Casper's order states.
It continued: "The Court denies the government’s motion to dismiss this Petition or its request to transfer this matter to the Western District of Louisiana and, relying upon the ‘interest of justice’… transfers this matter to the District of Vermont, where Ozturk was confined overnight at the time that the Petition was filed."
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The hearing was held in Boston federal court to determine if the habeas corpus petition on behalf of Öztürk was filed in the correct jurisdiction.
Öztürk was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on March 26 in Somerville, Massachusetts, after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked her visa.
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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.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.