Tufts Doctoral Student Detained Over Visa Revocation to Appear at Bail Hearing

A federal judge will hold a bail hearing Friday for Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral candidate at Tufts University, who has been detained by immigration authorities since March after the Trump administration revoked her student visa. Ozturk, currently held at an ICE facility in Basile, Louisiana, was arrested outside her Massachusetts home without prior notice and transferred through multiple states before arriving in Louisiana. Her legal team contends the detention violates her First and Fifth Amendment rights and stems from her criticism of Israel in a student newspaper op-ed, which did not mention Hamas.

Her attorneys argue the Department of Homeland Security based its opposition to her release on a single memo revoking her visa and that an immigration judge denied bond with what they call an “untenable” claim that Ozturk is both a flight risk and a danger to the community. Tufts University President Sunil Kumar has publicly defended Ozturk, stating the university has no evidence of wrongdoing, and a federal judge in Vermont has ordered her transfer there to access better legal and medical support amid ongoing habeas proceedings.

Ozturk has reportedly suffered multiple asthma attacks in overcrowded detention conditions, where she remains in a cell meant for 14 but housing 24 detainees. Her bail hearing follows a federal appeals court ruling that immigration authorities must comply with an earlier court order to transfer her to Vermont by May 14. A separate hearing to consider the legality of her detention is scheduled for May 22.

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