A federal judge has ordered the release of a Turkish student at Tufts University who is being held in Louisiana after US immigration officials arrested her in Massachusetts, according to media reports.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, testified virtually at a court hearing on Friday, where US District Judge William Sessions said the student had met all the conditions needed for release and lambasted the government’s case against her, according to court reporters.
“Her continued detention chills the speech of millions in this country who are not citizens,” the judge said.
Ms Otzurk co-authored an opinion piece in her campus newspaper that was critical of Israel. Her arrest follows the White House’s crackdown on what it has classified as antisemitism on US campuses.
Earlier this week, the judge ordered that Ms Ozturk be transferred by 14 May to immigration authorities in Vermont, where she was last held before she was taken to Louisiana.