A Boston immigration judge terminated Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk’s removal proceedings, according to a filing made by Öztürk’s lawyers on Monday. Immigration Judge Roopal Patel found that the Department of Homeland Security had failed to bring forward sufficient grounds for Öztürk’s deportation.
“This development underscores the dangers of the government’s interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” her lawyers wrote in a Rule 28(j) letter to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. They claim Öztürk’s case shows that, without judicial oversight, the government could detain any noncitizen in retaliation for speech so long as removal proceedings are simultaneously instituted.
Her attorneys wrote that the termination did not resolve the ongoing habeas corpus case, as the government can still appeal the order to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
“Without habeas jurisdiction and the bail order that is currently in place, any government appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals would again subject Ms. Öztürk to re-detention,” they wrote.
In a separate case, Boston Judge William Young found that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had based his decision to revoke Öztürk’s visa solely based on the op-ed she co-authored in March 2024. The op-ed denounced the Tufts administration’s rejection of three TCU Senate-passed resolutions calling for divestment from Israel. Öztürk was detained on March 25, 2025 by plainclothes Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers near her home in Somerville. She was detained for 45 days in Louisiana. Unsealed court documents related to the case showed that the administration did not have evidence that Öztürk had engaged in terrorist activity.
Öztürk’s legal team filed a habeas petition in response to her detention, arguing that her constitutional rights were violated. U.S. District Judge William Sessions III ordered that Öztürk be moved to Vermont no later than May 1, 2025 from Louisiana. The Department of Justice filed an appeal, which Sessions subsequently denied. Öztürk was ultimately released six weeks after her initial detainment after a bail hearing on May 9, 2025. Oral arguments were heard by a three-judge panel on Sept. 30, 2025. A decision is still pending in the appeals court.
Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, criticized the government’s targeted deportation campaign in a press release, underscoring the importance of allowing federal courts to review challenges to immigration detention.
“Without federal court jurisdiction, the government could punitively and unlawfully detain any noncitizen for months based solely on their speech so long as it simultaneously began removal proceedings, even where, as here, an Immigration Judge ultimately agrees that there is no lawful basis for removal,” Jessie Rossman wrote. “It is for this reason that habeas proceedings have been and remain a fundamental bulwark against the unconstitutional loss of liberty.”
Öztürk wrote in the press release that she believed justice would prevail for current detainees.
“Though the pain that I and thousands of other women wrongfully imprisoned by ICE have faced cannot be undone, it is heartening to know that some justice can prevail after all,” Öztürk wrote. “I grieve for the many human beings who do not get to see the mistreatment they have faced brought into the light. When we openly talk about the many injustices around us, including the treatment of immigrants and others who have been targeted and thrown in for-profit ICE prisons, as well as what is happening in Gaza, true justice will prevail.”
Grace Nelson contributed reporting.
