Latest Ruling Halts Tufts Student's Return Back North

SOMERVILLE, MA — A United States appeals court has halted a Tufts University graduate student’s transfer from a Louisiana Detention Center to Vermont, according to a report from NBC Boston.

Last week, U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions ruled that Ozturk must be brought to Vermont by Thursday, May 1. On Monday, a Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted a stay on the transfer pending a May 6 decision to a three-judge motions panel.

Rumesya Ozturk was detained near her off-campus home while on her way to meet with friends. Surveillance video shows multiple masked people approaching Ozturk before handcuffing and walking her toward an unmarked vehicle. According to Ozturk’s attorney Mahsa Khanbabai, her client had a valid visa as a PhD student. Ozturk was reportedly sought out by ICE due to her involvement in an Op-ed in the Tufts Daily that was critical of the Israeli government.

Read more at NBC Boston.