The students have announced the OP-ED, which calls on universities to cut off their financial ties with Israel.
US District Judge William Sessions issued an order on April 18 that Tufts University student Le Mesa Oztark would be transferred from Louisiana to Vermont at her request.
According to a court application, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took Ozturk to New Hampshire shortly after arresting her in Massachusetts. That night she was taken to the Ice Field office in St. Albans, Vermont.
Ozturk was finally transferred to a Louisiana detention center. The reason for moving Oztruk remains unknown. The Epoch Times contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment. A Homeland Security spokesperson said he previously learned that the agency had investigated Ozturk and was “engaged in activities that support Hamas.” Ozturk received an F-1 visa to study in the US.
Her first petition was filed in the Massachusetts area. When she was detained in Vermont at the time of filing, a Massachusetts district court moved the case to the Vermont district.
Ozturk filed habeas-safe petitions against several government officials, including President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem, alleging that “she was arrested and detained in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments and the Administrative Procedure Act.”
Habeasants are used to bring detainees before the court to determine whether detention is legal.
The government argued that the petition would be rejected, stating that the appropriate forum for the case was Louisiana’s western district.
In support of the First Amendment claim, Ozruk presented evidence that the government’s actions against her “only identifiable actions in favour of her detention are co-authors of Tufts University’s operations,” the judge wrote.
After the Hamastero attack on October 7, 2023, the university called on its universities to cut economic ties with Israel after the country’s military retaliation.
The court observed that the government “has not provided evidence to counter the First Amendment claim.”
Ozturk asked the court that he would be released on bail until the results of the Habeas Review were revealed. The government rebutted this by saying that bail or bonds are only required by immigration judges.
Alternatively, Ozturk demanded that she be returned to Vermont, where she worked with her attorney to prepare a legal claim.
Evaluating the arguments proposed by two aspects, the session wrote in the order that the court “has jurisdiction” to consider Ozturk’s habeas pursuit petition.
“The court further found that Ozturk raised serious constitutional concerns about arrests and detention that deserves full and fair consideration at this forum,” the order said.
“The court therefore denies the government’s request within the Vermont district to dismiss the petition and order that Oztark will be transferred to custody of ice (immigration and customs enforcement) as further hearings on this matter are pending.”
Without appeal, the judge’s order will take effect within four days. The session also planned to discuss the merits of the Ozturk incident on May 22nd.
Recently, several international students have been faced deportation under the Trump administration over alleged connections to pro-Palestinian activities.
One such individual is Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate of Columbia University, who informally claims that the authorities are engaged in “activities alongside Hamas.” Another person, Badal Khan Suri, a postdoctoral researcher at Georgetown University, was accused of “spreading Hamas propaganda.”
“If you’re going to apply for a visa anywhere in the world… to enroll in the US and become a student, and the reason you’re coming to the US is not just because you want to write OP-EDS, but because you want to take part in the movements of destroying universities, harassing students, stealing buildings, building racks, and more.”
“If you lie to us and get a visa and enter the United States, then if that visa participates in such activities, we will take away your visa. And if you lose your visa, you no longer have a legal right to the United States, and we have all the countries rights to exclude you from our country.”
Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
