A federal judge in Boston on Friday transferred the case of Rümeysa Öztürk, the Turkish national and Tufts graduate student who was arrested by ICE on March 25 and whisked off to a Louisiana detention facility, to federal court in Vermont, where she can continue to challenge her detention and the Trump administration’s revocation of her student visa.
In a 26-page ruling, US District Judge Denise Casper denied the government’s motion to dismiss Öztürk’s petition for release and its alternative request to transfer the case to Louisiana.
“The Court ALLOWS the alternative relief sought by Ozturk and transfers this matter ‘in the interest of justice’ ... to the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont,” she wrote.
To ensure that Öztürk can press her case to a judge in Vermont, Casper wrote that her March 28 order barring the Trump administration from deporting the student “shall remain in effect unless and until” the Vermont court “orders otherwise.”
Casper said she was transferring the matter to Vermont, “where Ozturk was confined overnight at the time that the Petition was filed.”
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The judge said Öztürk’s petition “raises serious issues as to the conduct of her arrest and detention as alleged.”
Her order came one day after lawyers representing Öztürk sparred with federal authorities over whether a judge in Boston has legal jurisdiction to decide if she was unlawfully detained.
Casper held a hearing at Boston’s Moakley Courthouse, after the Öztürk defense provided a complex legal argument on her behalf, along with affidavits of support from 21 people including the Tufts president, the university community, and allies from Turkey.
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During the hearing, Casper pushed the federal prosector representing immigration authorities on whether the quick series of actions to move Öztürk from Massachusetts through New Hampshire and Vermont before flying her to Louisiana the next morning was normal, rather than an effort to make it harder for her lawyers to file petitions for her release.
Assistant US Attorney Mark Sauter cited the case of a Russian scientist who was arrested a week ago and taken on a similar route to Louisiana, saying this had been the recent practice. But Casper’s response seemed to reference the recent changes to immigration enforcement that have come in the early months of the Trump administration.
“The question, counsel, is if recent is regular,” Casper said.
Requests for comment were sent to Öztürk’s attorneys and Homeland Security officials Friday afternoon.
Oztürk, who has been pursuing a doctorate in child and human development, was taken into custody by masked ICE agents on March 25 as she left her off-campus apartment in Somerville to attend an Iftar dinner, where she would break her Ramadan fast for the day, according to defense filings.
She was taken out of state within hours and flown to an ICE detention center in Louisiana early the next morning, lawyers for both sides said.
The Fulbright scholar was swept up in the Trump administration’s crackdown on college students who allegedly engaged in what they deem to be antisemitic activism. Öztürk was not known as a major activist at Tufts but co-wrote an op-ed in the student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to the pro-Palestinian movement and calling for divestment from Israel.
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In her ruling Friday, Casper cited the op-ed and wrote that Öztürk’s “current visa status aligns with new policy directives from President Donald Trump who, after assuming office, signed two Executive Orders aimed at fulfilling a campaign promise to revoke the visas of students he characterized as ‘Hamas sympathizers.‘”
Hers is one of “several cases in which the Trump Administration has implemented these Executive Orders by revoking the immigration status of non-citizens who expressed support for Palestine,” Casper wrote.
After Thursday’s hearing, one of Öztürk’s attorneys, Mahsa Khanbabai, read a statement she said Öztürk had dictated to her that morning.
“My life is committed to choosing peaceful and inclusive ways to meet the needs of children,” the statement read. “I believe the world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room. Writing is one of the most peaceful ways of addressing systemic inequality. Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children.”
Öztürk’s detention has sparked intense outrage and has been denounced by leaders and students in Massachusetts. On Tuesday, protesters rallied outside the JFK Building in Boston, including members of the Tufts Grad Workers Union, which Öztürk belongs to. Separately, more than 100 rabbis from Massachusetts signed a letter calling for her release and criticizing the Trump administration.
An affidavit submitted by Tufts officials said that the op-ed did not violate university policies or generate complaints.
International students, staff, and faculty are vital to the university’s mission, as is their free movement, but Öztürk’s detention has had a chilling effect with some forgoing opportunities to speak at international conferences, Tufts officials said in the filing.
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Earlier Friday, three members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation called for federal officials to “immediately” release Öztürk.
Representative Ayanna Pressley, a Boston Democrat, said in a statement Friday that Öztürk had suffered three asthma attacks in federal custody and “has not received” her required medication, according to her legal team.
“This is cruelty, it is neglect, and it is a damning moral and legal failure,” Pressley said, adding that she and Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey demand that the Department of Homeland Security “immediately provide her access to the care she needs, restore her visa, and release her.“
“Every minute she remains in custody is another minute her health and rights are at risk,” they said.
Pressley said Öztürk, 30, has been “pursuing her education, exercising her First Amendment rights, and contributing to her community.”
A request for comment on Öztürk’s medical issues was sent to ICE and DHS officials Friday afternoon.
Jessie Rossman, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts and part of Öztürk’s legal team, said previously that she wasn’t able to contact her client for the first 20 hours she was detained, during which she had an asthma attack.
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.