By Kolby LaMarche

This morning, U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III held a hearing in Burlington to address the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss Rumeysa Ozturk’s release petition. 

After a lengthy afternoon of questioning both the Department of Justice attorney and defense counsel, Judge Sessions did not issue a ruling or provide a clear indication of how he might decide. However, earlier this morning, Judge Sessions did issue an order temporarily blocking the Trump administration from deporting a Palestinian man—an action that may offer insight into his thinking ahead of any decision in the Ozturk case.

Ozturk, a 30-year-old Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, was detained by ICE on March 25 in Somerville, Massachusetts, for her alleged support of Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.

Her legal team, backed by the ACLU, argues her detention violates free speech and due process, with no criminal charges ever filed.

Directly outside the federal courthouse on Pearl Street, dozens protested, chanting “Free Rumeysa!,” holding signs, and waving Palestinian flags.

According to communications obtained by Burlington Daily News, Ozturk’s defense team had originally asked activists and organizations that there not be any demonstrations directly outside the courthouse. 

Burlingtonians added their voices to a national push to defend Ozturk. Legal and progressive Jewish groups, alongside over 50 Massachusetts rabbis, have declared their support for Ozturk, decrying her arrest as a constitutional violation.

On March 25, Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by plainclothes ICE agents in Massachusetts. The Department of Homeland Security alleges she supported Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, prompting the revocation of her F-1 visa. Her attorneys, with ACLU support, say the detention is predicated on a 2024 op-ed she co-authored for her school newspaper, The Tufts Daily, criticizing Israel and urging divestment—protected speech.

After her arrest, Ozturk was moved through New Hampshire, then to Vermont, held overnight in St. Albans, and then flown to a Basile, Louisiana, ICE facility, where she remains, reporting asthma attacks and poor medical care.

A Boston judge, petitioned by the ACLU, transferred Ozturk’s case to Burlington, citing her Vermont detention.