US immigration court blocks deportation of Tufts graduate student

An immigration court found on Jan. 29 that the Department of Homeland Security had not proved that Turkish Tufts PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk should be removed and terminated her removal proceedings, her attorneys said; the department may appeal.

An immigration court has blocked the deportation of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, attorneys said. The court found on Jan. 29 that the Department of Homeland Security had not proven grounds to remove her and it terminated her removal proceedings. Öztürk was detained last March near her Massachusetts home and has since been released from detention and returned to the Tufts campus. Her attorneys notified the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals about the immigration court's decision. Key facts: - On Jan. 29, the immigration court concluded the Department of Homeland Security had not shown that Öztürk should be removed and terminated her removal proceedings, according to her attorneys. - Öztürk is a PhD student at Tufts who was detained last March and later released from a Louisiana immigrant detention center and returned to campus. - The Department of Homeland Security may appeal the immigration court's decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the matter has been reviewed at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Summary: The immigration court ruling halts the deportation process and has been described by Öztürk as a source of relief. The government retains the option to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and appellate review at the 2nd U.S. Circuit has been part of the case record.