Appeals court pauses Tufts student's transfer to Vermont in immigration detention case [View all]

Source: AP

Updated 10:39 AM EDT, April 29, 2025


A federal appeals court has paused a judge’s order to bring a Turkish Tufts University student from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to New England this week so it can consider an emergency motion filed by the government.

The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New York, ruled Monday that a three-judge panel would hear arguments on May 6 in the case of Rumeysa Ozturk. She’s been detained for five weeks as of Tuesday.

A district court judge in Vermont had earlier ordered that the 30-year-old doctoral student be brought to the state by Thursday for hearings to determine whether she was illegally detained. Ozturk’s lawyers say her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.

The U.S. Justice Department, which is appealing that ruling, said that an immigration court in Louisiana has jurisdiction over her case.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/rumeysa-ozturk-deportation-tufts-massachusetts-student-vermont-11369dd81ec5b95a7ad7c1d2a0c74f2d