By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First
An earlier version of this story appeared in the Caledonian-Record.
A Federal judge in Vermont said Monday a Tufts University graduate student from Turkey who was taken off the streets of Somerville, Mass by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month will remain in custody for at least another week while her legal battle plays out.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, who is in America on a student visa, is currently detained at the Southern Louisiana Correctional Facility in Basile, Louisiana in a case that has drawn international attention for Free Speech reasons.
Ozturk maintains that she is facing possible deportation because she was one of five co-authors of an opinion piece that appeared in the Tufts Daily, the student newspaper at the university outside Boston. It appears the other four co-authors have not been impacted.
The Op-Ed criticized Tufts officials for their response that the university “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Senior Federal Judge William K. Sessions III said during a noon-hour hearing that several issues need to be considered, including whether the federal court in Vermont has jurisdiction in the case.
He said that once that is determined, other issues, including whether she will be allowed bail, will be considered.
Six law enforcement officers in plain clothes, all believed to be ICE Agents, picked Ozturk up off the street at about 5:15 p.m. on March 25. After two quick stops in Massachusetts, she headed north to Lebanon, N.H. and eventually to an ICE field office in St. Albans, where she stayed overnight.
Records show that the following morning, Ozturk was flown out of Patrick J. Leahy International Airport in South Burlington at 5:31 a.m., arrived in Louisiana at 2:35 p.m. and was jailed.
By the time her lawyers filed a petition in federal court in Boston, Ozturk was no longer in Massachusetts, and that court appeared to have no authority over the case.
Sessions gave lawyers for Ozturk and the government until 5 p.m. Thursday to file legal briefs on several issues. He said he is prepared to hear arguments on Monday and also on Tuesday if necessary.
Before making the offer for a hearing on Monday, Sessions was scheduled for seven major hearings, including two sentencings between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
According to court records, Ozturk has a legal team of at least 13 named lawyers. They include out-of-state immigration lawyers and American Civil Liberties Union members in Massachusetts and Vermont.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Sauter of Boston started with the case when it was filed in Massachusetts, but during the noon-hour hearing on Monday, only Acting U.S. Attorney for Vermont Michael P. Drescher spoke.
Ozturk will remain in the United States pending the outcome of the legal fight.
Ozturk wants the court to have jurisdiction in the case and declare that her detention violates the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment, Sessions said.
Sessions noted several filings in the case are based on the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Massachusetts. The judge said the case is now in Vermont, which is part of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Drescher agreed that the legal arguments for Ozturk’s case should be based on the past rulings by the Second Circuit appeals court based in New York City.
Ozturk’s lead lawyer Ramzi Kassem said he wanted to ensure that the case was heard promptly, a promise Sessions provided.
Sessions said he considers it a “really unique case.”
Kasssem also argued that Ozturk should not be considered a flight risk. He noted that she has about two dozen letters of support from friends. He said she wants to return to her classes at Tufts and complete her course of study.
Sessions said detention or release would be considered after a determination is made about jurisdiction.
Drescher said the case could be handled through the normal Immigration process.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he moved to revoke Ozturk’s student visa on March 21 and made her subject for legal removal.