US appeals court orders Rümeysa Öztürk transferred to Vermont
WASHINGTON
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered detained Turkish doctoral student Rumeysa Öztürk transferred to a court in Vermont in a blow to the Trump administration as it seeks to deport her for her pro-Palestinian speech.
Justice Department attorneys have sought to prevent Öztürk's transfer from an immigration jail in the Southern state of Louisiana to a federal district court in Vermont, in the U.S. Northeast, where a judge has set a bail hearing for May 9. Proceedings in that court are slated to address her continued detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after she was arrested in March.
A three-judge panel with the U.S. Second Circuity Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday from the Justice Department and Öztürk's attorney before it issued its ruling. The judges rejected the administration's bid to overturn a lower court ruling mandating Öztürk be returned to Vermont, and gave the Trump administration one week to return her to the U.S. state so she can attend hearings set by District Judge William Sessions.
It is unclear if the Trump administration will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
But President Donald Trump earlier Wednesday issued a social media screed against the U.S. judicial system, saying, in part, that it "is not letting me do the job I was Elected to do."
"Activist judges must let the Trump Administration deport murderers, and other criminals who have come into our Country illegally, WITHOUT DELAY!!!" he said.
Öztürk was arrested by plainclothes ICE agents on March 25 while she was walking down the street in Somerville, Massachusetts in broad daylight. Öztürk was then quickly shuttled between three states as authorities transported her to an immigration prison in Louisiana.
Öztürk co-authored an op-ed last year critical of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip in Tufts University’s student newspaper.
Esha Bhandari, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union representing Öztürk, said during Tuesday's hearing that Öztürk "has been held behind bars for six weeks while her health deteriorates for writing an op-ed, and now that the district court is on the verge of hearing her urgent claim for release, this Friday, the government asks this court to extraordinarily intervene to block her transfer to the district, as if it is the party suffering any irreparable harm."
"The executive branch made a specific decision to detain Ms. Öztürk that was motivated by her speech," said Bhandari.
Under repeated questioning by Circuit Judge Barrington D. Parker, Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign would not say whether Öztürk's speech was protected by the free speech guarantees enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
"Your honor, we haven't taken a position on that," said Ensign, before arguing that he did not "have authority to take a position on that right now."
The appellate court's decision to give the Trump administration one week to transfer Öztürk has cast into doubt the feasibility of holding Friday's hearing as scheduled.
