Judge Orders ICE to Notify Court Before Moving Fulbright Scholar Out of State but ICE Does It Anyway

| 0

Federal District Court Judge Indira Talwani ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to keep detained Fulbright scholar Rumeysa Ozturk in Massachusetts, and provide 48 hours notice and justification to the court if ICE wanted to move her out of the state, but ICE quickly moved her to Louisiana.

Talwani gave ICE until Friday to respond to a filing requiring Ozturk to appear in court.

ICE responded that even though Talwani’s order was issued the same evening Ozturk was taken, Ozturk had already been moved out of state before the judge issued her order. It is not yet clear whether that is true.

Until late in the day following the one when she was taken, Ozturk’s lawyer could not find out where she was. She was eventually found to be in the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center at Basile, Louisiana. The Court of Appeals in that district is more amenable to Donald Trump’s wishes than the Court of Appeals in Massachusetts.

No charges have been filed against Ozturk. Her visa was revoked 21 March 2025, but she was not notified. She was not regarded as a leader of campus protests.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell described video of Ozturk’s arrest as “disturbing,” showing ICE would “ambush and detain” someone for their political views.

Click here for more details.