US judge rules for restoration of Turkish student’s SEVIS record
Chief Judge Denise Casper of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction, finding that Ozturk is “likely to succeed” in her claim that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) actions were “arbitrary and capricious.” She instructed officials to restore her SEVIS record retroactively to March 25 — the day ICE agents detained her outside her Somerville, Massachusetts residence.
SEVIS is a federal database managed by ICE that tracks foreign students; terminating a student’s record can prevent them from working and endanger their legal status in the US.
In a statement released through the American Civil Liberties Union, Ozturk expressed gratitude for the ruling, saying: “I earnestly hope that no one else experiences the injustices I have suffered.”
She added, “I hope one day we can create a world where everyone uses education to learn, connect, civically engage and benefit others — rather than criminalize and punish those whose opinions differ from our own. While I am grateful for the court's decision, I still feel a great deal of grief for all the educational rights I have been arbitrarily denied as a scholar and a woman in my final year of doctoral studies.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ozturk, a Fulbright scholar pursuing a PhD in child development at Tufts University, was detained by plainclothes ICE agents outside her home on March 25, an incident captured in a widely circulated video. Her student visa was revoked by the State Department, and she was transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, where she spent six weeks before a federal judge in Vermont ordered her release on May 9, citing her asthma and the lack of justification for continued detention.
Her arrest followed online targeting by the pro-Israel website Canary Mission after she co-authored a March 2024 op-ed criticizing Tufts University’s response to student calls for divestment from Israel, advocating recognition of a "Palestinian genocide."
The Trump administration alleged that Ozturk supported the Palestinian group Hamas, though it has not provided evidence to substantiate the claim. She was among several international students affected by the administration’s broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the
information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept
any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images,
videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information
contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright
issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
