A federal judge in Vermont on Friday was like, “Yo, Tufts University doctoral student, you can bounce from ICE custody after your visa got revoked by the Trump administration.” U.S. District Judge William Sessions was throwin’ some major shade at the government, saying they got nothin’ on Rumeysa Ozturk, this Turkish student, except for an op-ed she helped write for her school paper last year.
“I straight up told the government to bring any evidence they got, and that was, like, three weeks ago. But nah, they ain’t brought nothin’ except for that op-ed. Like, for real, that’s all they got. There’s zero evidence here to back up their claims without lookin’ at the op-ed,” he said.
Ozturk was all remote and stuff at her bail hearing from some detention center in Louisiana where ICE snagged her near her crib in Massachusetts on March 25. Her lawyers were like, “Nah, man, this former Fulbright scholar is only gettin’ hassled ’cause she spoke out against Tufts University in that op-ed.”
The judge didn’t hold back, callin’ out all the homies who submitted declarations supportin’ Ozturk, sayin’ she’s all about peace and love. “I’m tellin’ ya, this chick is all about school and community, nothin’ else. She ain’t out here causin’ trouble or advocatin’ for violence. She’s a good egg,” he said.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security was all like, “Yeah, Ozturk is all about supportin’ terrorists who hate America. We had to yank her visa ’cause she’s glorifyin’ the enemies of the state. Visas ain’t no joke, man. It’s a privilege, not a right.”
The judge was clear, sayin’ he ain’t about to change his mind on this. Instead, he told the government to come up with some conditions for Ozturk’s release. “I wanna know ASAP when she’s free,” he said.
Ozturk, rockin’ a hijab and an orange jumpsuit, spilled the beans on all the humanitarian work she’s doin’ for her child development studies. She talked about an event she organized to help kids affected by war and conflict all around the world.
If she gets out on bail, Tufts has got some housing lined up for her so she can finish her Ph.D. Ozturk and her lawyers are all like, “Yo, she needs to be out like yesterday. She’s had mad asthma attacks in that cramped, filthy detention center.”
During the hearing, she had to take a break to use her inhaler ’cause she was strugglin’ to breathe. She even had an asthma attack at the airport in Atlanta on the way to Louisiana. “I was scared and cryin’,” she said. Her inhaler wasn’t even given to her right away.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was all, “Yeah, we had to cancel her visa ’cause she’s all about supportin’ Palestinian causes. We can’t have students comin’ here to cause chaos and destruction. We’ve canceled over 300 visas since Trump’s been back in office.”
The judge was firm, sayin’ he ain’t gonna back down. He wants ICE to lay out the rules for Ozturk’s release. “Let me know the minute she’s out,” he said.
In the end, Ozturk was all like, “I just wanna get back to my studies and keep helpin’ kids around the world.” Her lawyer was like, “We need her out now, she’s strugglin’ in that detention center.” And the judge was like, “Let her go and let her finish her Ph.D.”
