US judge denies government's bid to move Rumeysa Ozturk's case to Louisiana; transfers proceeding to Vermont

A federal judge denied the Trump administration's attempt Friday to dismiss or transfer Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk's case to the state of Louisiana, instead ruling that the proceeding will be transferred to Vermont.

US District Judge Denise Casper also granted a request to block the government from removing Ozturk from the US while her petition challenging her detention is considered.

In her 26-page decision, Casper said Vermont was the appropriate venue for the case since Ozturk had been confined there at the time the petition was filed. The judge noted that Ozturk's legal team had not known her whereabouts after her arrest, and therefore, could not be faulted for filing the petition in the state of Massachusetts, where Ozturk had been detained initially.

Ozturk, 30, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University and Fulbright scholar, was arrested March 25 near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts while heading to an iftar dinner to break her fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

No charges have been filed against Ozturk, according to her lawyer. A viral video captured the moments of her detention, showing masked Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents handcuffing her and forcibly taking away her phone.

US Secretary of State Rubio said her F-1 was revoked. Authorities claim she engaged in activities supporting the Palestinian group, Hamas -- an allegation her family and advocates strongly deny.

Ozturk's lawyers and supporters argue that she was detained for co-writing an op-ed in The Tufts Daily in March 2024 that criticized the university's handling of the pro-Palestinian movement.

Ozturk's detention comes amid the Trump administration's broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian students and academics, including the detention of Palestinian activist and recent Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, and Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri.