{"id":143792,"date":"2026-02-10T16:37:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T00:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/02\/10\/judge-rules-there-was-no-reason-to-detain-or-deport-grad-student-over-a-damn-op-ed-piece\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:37:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T00:37:06","slug":"judge-rules-there-was-no-reason-to-detain-or-deport-grad-student-over-a-damn-op-ed-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/02\/10\/judge-rules-there-was-no-reason-to-detain-or-deport-grad-student-over-a-damn-op-ed-piece\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Rules There Was No Reason To Detain Or Deport Grad Student Over A Damn Op-Ed Piece"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some good news for everyone asking if due process still has a heart beat! R\u00fcmeysa \u00d6zt\u00fcrk, a grad student at Tufts University, was arrested last March for co-writing an article that evaluated policy decisions. This sort of squarely political speech is exactly what the First Amendment was meant to protect. And yet, she was kidnapped by ICE in broad daylight and the state came up with some bs story about her being a terrorist. Thankfully she\u2019s gotten a lot of support from the start: the attempt to speedily deport her was thwarted<\/a> and she was eventually allowed to go back home<\/a>. But that wasn\u2019t the end of her legal troubles. An administration so desperate for legal victories that they tried to lock a guy up over a thrown sandwich (they failed, by the way) continued to apply legal pressure against \u00d6zt\u00fcrk. After this most recent ruling, there\u2019s a good chance they\u2019ll finally leave her alone. CNN <\/a>has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

An immigration judge terminated removal proceedings against Tufts University doctoral student R\u00fcmeysa \u00d6zt\u00fcrk, who was detained for over a month last year as part of the Trump administration\u2019s effort to target and deport international students and activists involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy, her lawyers said Monday.
\u2026
The move comes after recently unsealed court documents showed the federal government didn\u2019t have any evidence that \u00d6zt\u00fcrk had been supporting terrorist activity when she was arrested, and that her visa revocation and arrest were because of an opinion article she wrote containing criticisms of Israel.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A win for free speech! The \u201caccuse them of terrorism to bypass their due process rights and figure out charges later\u201d strategy is one that the government has used heavily since at least the Bush Jr. administration. And while Ms. \u00d6zt\u00fcrk was fortunate enough to have strong legal representation that could advocate on her behalf, there\u2019s no telling how many other people weren\u2019t as well-equipped to defend themselves from the government over an offending article, presence at a protest, or looking like they have the last name Ramirez.<\/p>\n

The rule of law may be on its last legs, but it ain\u2019t dead yet! <\/p>\n

Immigration Judge Terminates Removal Proceedings Against Tufts Student Detained By Trump Administration, Attorneys Say<\/a> [CNN]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: 2nd Circuit Orders Return Of Vermont Grad Student Abducted By ICE Because She Wrote An Article They Didn\u2019t Like<\/a><\/p>\n

R\u00fcmeysa \u00d6zt\u00fcrk Finally Returns Home After Being Detained Over 6 Weeks For Sharing Her Opinions<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com <\/a>and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Judge Rules There Was No Reason To Detain Or Deport Grad Student Over A Damn Op-Ed Piece<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some good news for everyone asking if due process still has a heart beat! R\u00fcmeysa \u00d6zt\u00fcrk, a grad student at Tufts University, was arrested last March for co-writing an article that evaluated policy decisions. This sort of squarely political speech is exactly what the First Amendment was meant to protect. And yet, she was kidnapped by ICE in broad daylight and the state came up with some bs story about her being a terrorist. Thankfully she\u2019s gotten a lot of support from the start: the attempt to speedily deport her was thwarted<\/a> and she was eventually allowed to go back home<\/a>. But that wasn\u2019t the end of her legal troubles. An administration so desperate for legal victories that they tried to lock a guy up over a thrown sandwich (they failed, by the way) continued to apply legal pressure against \u00d6zt\u00fcrk. After this most recent ruling, there\u2019s a good chance they\u2019ll finally leave her alone. CNN <\/a>has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

An immigration judge terminated removal proceedings against Tufts University doctoral student R\u00fcmeysa \u00d6zt\u00fcrk, who was detained for over a month last year as part of the Trump administration\u2019s effort to target and deport international students and activists involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy, her lawyers said Monday.
\u2026
The move comes after recently unsealed court documents showed the federal government didn\u2019t have any evidence that \u00d6zt\u00fcrk had been supporting terrorist activity when she was arrested, and that her visa revocation and arrest were because of an opinion article she wrote containing criticisms of Israel.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A win for free speech! The \u201caccuse them of terrorism to bypass their due process rights and figure out charges later\u201d strategy is one that the government has used heavily since at least the Bush Jr. administration. And while Ms. \u00d6zt\u00fcrk was fortunate enough to have strong legal representation that could advocate on her behalf, there\u2019s no telling how many other people weren\u2019t as well-equipped to defend themselves from the government over an offending article, presence at a protest, or looking like they have the last name Ramirez.<\/p>\n

The rule of law may be on its last legs, but it ain\u2019t dead yet! <\/p>\n

Immigration Judge Terminates Removal Proceedings Against Tufts Student Detained By Trump Administration, Attorneys Say<\/a> [CNN]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: 2nd Circuit Orders Return Of Vermont Grad Student Abducted By ICE Because She Wrote An Article They Didn\u2019t Like<\/a><\/p>\n

R\u00fcmeysa \u00d6zt\u00fcrk Finally Returns Home After Being Detained Over 6 Weeks For Sharing Her Opinions<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com <\/a>and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Judge Rules There Was No Reason To Detain Or Deport Grad Student Over A Damn Op-Ed Piece<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some good news for everyone asking if due process still has a heart beat! R\u00fcmeysa \u00d6zt\u00fcrk, a grad student at Tufts University, was arrested last March for co-writing an article that evaluated policy decisions. This sort of squarely political speech is exactly what the First Amendment was meant to protect. And yet, she was kidnapped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":143793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Chris-Williams-2025-NScNbk.jpg?fit=512%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}