Judge Orders Release of Tufts Student Ozturk on First Amendment Grounds

Yesterday, Rumeysa Ozturk, the Turkish born Tufts University student who detained by ICE in broad daylight on the streets of Somerville in late March, was released from custody by order of U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions. 

Judge Sessions order Ozturk's release on First Amendment grounds:

There has been no evidence that has been introduced by the government other than the op-ed. I mean, that literally is the case. There is no evidence here as to the motivation, absent the consideration of the op-ed.

There is absolutely no evidence that she has engaged in violence or advocated violence. She has no criminal record. She has done nothing other than essentially attend her university and expand her contacts within the community in such a supportive way.

Judge Sessions also stated the case created "a very significant, substantial claim that the op-ed - that is that the expression of one's opinion as ordinarily protected by the First Amendment - formed the basis of this particular decision.

Shortly after Ozturk was detained, I expressed concern about the grounds under which she was taken into custody:

I know the Trump Administration wants to make an example of foreign students who they believe support Hamas by revoking their student visas or their green cards. But in so doing they end up turning them into sympathetic figures.

It is also difficult to take the Trump Administration regarding this campaign when their envoys keep saying nice things about Hamas. They can't have it both ways though Secretary of State Marco Rubio is trying:

If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us the reason you are coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus -- we're not going to give you a visa.

Yet, at this point, neither Rubio nor anyone else in the Trump DoJ has specifically accused her of committing vandalism, harassing Jewish students or being involved in taking over campus buildings much less having direct involvement with Hamas. 

If they have evidence and facts that Ozturk has done these things or worse (i.e. provide financial support to Hamas) then I will reconsider my opinion. But if they had this information then they would have already charged her with these offenses.

And yet the op-ed (of which she was one of four co-writers) formed the entire basis of her detention. Ozturk is probably a pro-Hamas, anti-Semite who I would avoid if I saw her on the street. However, harboring such views would not warrant the treatment to which she was subjected.

As it stands, I am far more concerned about the pro-Hamas students who stormed Columbia University's library on Wednesday. 

I am also far more concerned about someone like Mohsen Madawi, the Columbia University student released recently from ICE custody despite having made statements to a gun store owner in Vermont about how he had killed Jews "in Palestine" and "I like killing Jews."

Unless Rumeysa Ozturk decides to vandalize Tufts University property, join a mob to harass Jewish students or provide material support to Hamas, the government should leave her alone.