A federal appeals court has temporarily paused the transfer of Tufts University international student Rümeysa Öztürk from Louisiana to Vermont.
Öztürk, a doctoral student from Turkey studying child development, was detained by plainclothes ICE agents in Somerville on March 25.
Her transfer had been ordered by Judge William K. Sessions III, the Vermont federal judge presiding over the case aimed at getting Öztürk released from custody.
But on Monday, in response to an appeal from the Trump administration, the Second Circuit of Appeals placed an administrative stay on Sessions’ transfer order to give itself ”sufficient opportunity to consider the merits of the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal.“ The appeals court emphasized that the pause should not be interpreted as a ruling on the transfer order’s merits.
Sessions had directed ICE to move Öztürk to Vermont by May 1, ahead of a hearing on whether her detention should continue, and if her arrest amounted to a violation of her constitutional rights.
With Monday’s appeals court decision, a three-judge panel from that court will now weigh arguments for and against Öztürk’s transfer.
Öztürk’s legal team released a joint statement Tuesday in response to the pause.
”Rümeysa Öztürk never should have been arrested and detained, period. We are ready to argue her case before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and we won’t stop fighting until she is free,“ they wrote.
Öztürk is currently being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. Last week, members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation
visited
the facility to speak with her and assess her living conditions. At the time, Öztürk predicted that she wouldn’t be transferred, according to U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
