Tufts University student can’t be deported to Turkey without court order, U.S. judge says

Tufts student detained by ICE, cannot be deported to Turkey without court order, judge rules.

A Tufts University doctoral student who was detained this week can’t be deported to Turkey without a court order, a federal judge in Massachusetts said on Friday (March 28, 2025).

Rumeysa Ozturk (30) was taken by masked immigration officials as she walked along a street in the Boston suburb of Somerville on Tuesday.

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Ms. Ozturk was quickly moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in remote Basile, Louisiana, before her attorneys could secure a judge’s order blocking the transfer.

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper gave the government until Tuesday evening to respond to an updated complaint filed by Ozturk’s attorneys.

“To allow the Court’s resolution of its jurisdiction to decide the petition, Ozturk shall not be removed from the United States until further order of this court,” the judge wrote.

Ms. Ozturk is among several people with ties to American universities who attended demonstrations or publicly expressed support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza and who have recently had visas revoked or been stopped from entering the U.S.