Rümeysa Öztürk returns to Turkey, settles case

The government and Öztürk’s legal team have jointly moved to dismiss her immigration proceedings.

Judges fired after blocking deportation of pro-Palestinian students

Immigration judges Roopal Patel and Nina Froes among six judges terminated by Department of Justice

Trump Fires Judges Who Blocked Deportations of Student Activists Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi

The Trump administration has fired six more immigration judges in its effort to reshape immigration policy and the immigration courts. Two of the fired judges, Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, had each dismissed high-profile cases brought by the government against international students who had advocated for Palestinian rights, Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi. Around 100 immigration judges have been fired by the Trump administration. Firings in previous administrations were rare. The Trump administration is eroding “the concept of procedural due process, the idea that you get to have a hearing in the United States” by “firing judges that it perceived as being opposed to the administration’s stated goal to deport as many people as possible with the least amount of due process possible,” says Carmen Maria Rey Caldas, a former immigration judge in New York who was fired in August. The firing of so many immigration judges is also “egregious” because noncitizens are “going to be subject to the ruling of judges that are under pressure,” says Cyrus Mehta, an attorney who represents Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi.

Rümeysa Öztürk completes doctorate at Tufts nearly a year after harrowing ICE arrest

The Turkish national and Tufts University student was swept off the streets of Somerville last year by masked immigration agents. In a social media post this week, she announced she's completed her doctorate from Tufts’ Department of Child Study and Human Development.

Journalists Jailed by ICE Are Revealing the Horrors of Incarceration – The USA Potato

Immigration Judge Rejects Trump Admin’s Efforts to Deport Tufts University Student Rümeysa Öztürk

An immigration judge has rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk, after she was arrested last year by masked immigration agents outside her apartment. According to her lawyers, she was arrested as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists. Authorities had revoked her student visa for an editorial she co-authored in Tufts’s student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to Israel’s war on Gaza. In a statement, Öztürk said, “Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government.”

Immigration Judge Says Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts Student, Cannot Be Deported

The student, Rumeysa Ozturk, who is from Turkey, was detained by immigration agents last year after she co-wrote a pro-Palestinian opinion article for her student newspaper.

State Dept Memos Admit It Had Almost No Grounds to Deport Pro-Palestine Students – The USA Potato