A US federal judge has allowed Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University student from Turkey, to resume research and teaching while she deals with the consequences of having her visa revoked by the Trump administration, leading to six weeks of detention earlier this year, The Associated Press reported.
Öztürk’s student visa was revoked by the US State Department after she co-authored an article in The Tufts Daily university newspaper criticizing the college’s handling of student anger around Israel’s war in Gaza.
Video of her arrest on March 25 outside her Somerville residence by masked agents sparked outrage online and added to concerns about freedom of speech and respect for due process under Trump.
Öztürk has been out of an immigration detention center in Louisiana since May and has returned to the Tufts campus, but she has been unable to teach or engage in research because her record was removed from the federal database that tracks foreign students studying in the United States.
In her ruling Monday, Chief Judge Denise J. Casper for the U.S. District Court of the District of Massachusetts wrote that Öztürk is likely to succeed on claims that the termination was “arbitrary and capricious, contrary to law and in violation of the First Amendment.”
The US government’s lawyers unsuccessfully argued that the Boston federal court lacked jurisdiction and that Öztürk’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System record (SEVIS) record was terminated legally after her visa was revoked, making her eligible for removal proceedings.
“There’s no statute or regulation that’s been violated by the termination of the SEVIS record in this case,” Assistant US Attorney Mark Sauter said during a hearing last week.
In a statement Öztürk, who plans to graduate next year, said while she is grateful for the court’s decision, she feels “a great deal of grief” for the education she has been “arbitrarily denied as a scholar and a woman in my final year of doctoral studies.”
“I hope one day we can create a world where everyone uses education to learn, connect, civically engage and benefit others — rather than criminalize and punish those whose opinions differ from our own,” said Öztürk, who is still challenging her arrest and detention.
The then-30-year-old was one of four students who wrote the opinion piece in the campus newspaper. It criticized the university’s response to student activists demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Tufts University at the time publicly backed Öztürk, demanding her release so she can return to the school and complete her doctoral studies in child development.
Trump has targeted prestigious universities that became the epicenter of the US student protest movement sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators.
Critics argue that the campaign amounts to retribution and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and protect Jewish students.