A federal judge has granted bail to Rümeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, amid ongoing deportation proceedings initiated by the Trump administration, which claims her involvement in a pro-Gaza op-ed amounts to antisemitic activism. The decision represents a legal setback for the administration, which has intensified efforts to deport foreign students it alleges are engaging in speech critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Judge William Sessions of the U.S. District Court in Vermont ordered Ozturk’s release without travel restrictions, rejecting government efforts to detain her. He criticized her arrest as potentially intimidating for millions of non-citizens who fear punishment for expressing dissenting views. Ozturk was arrested by plainclothes officers near her home in Massachusetts in March and quickly transferred to a Louisiana detention center. Her attorneys argue this was a deliberate move to shift her case to a more government-friendly jurisdiction. A federal appeals court later ordered her relocation to Vermont.

During a hearing held via Zoom, Ozturk described how the detention was harming her health and academic work. She also claimed her constitutional rights were being violated. The administration maintains her activism threatens U.S. foreign policy, but Ozturk insists the article she co-wrote is not antisemitic and aligns with Tufts’ editorial standards.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to address the specific case but emphasized the administration’s position that visa privileges can be revoked and that foreign nationals have no guaranteed right to remain in the U.S. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller added that suspending habeas corpus is under consideration depending on how the courts respond.

The case has broader implications, as seen in a related ruling by a federal appeals court in Manhattan. That court affirmed the right of immigrant students, like Columbia University’s Mohsen Mahdawi, to challenge deportation proceedings in federal court on constitutional grounds, even as removal actions continue. Ozturk’s case is officially listed as Ozturk v. Hyde, 25-cv-374, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont.