US judge drops deportation case against Turkish student

WASHINGTON

A U.S. immigration judge terminated removal proceedings on Feb. 9 against Turkish graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk, ending the government’s efforts to deport her nearly a year after she was arrested by U.S. immigration agents.

Öztürk, a Tufts University PhD student in child development, was detained by plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in March 2025 in Somerville, Massachusetts after co-authoring a pro-Palestinian opinion piece in a student newspaper.

Her lawyers said the judge found that the Department of Homeland Security lacked legal grounds to remove her from the U.S.

“Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government,” Öztürk said in a statement.

She added that while the harm she endured could not be undone, the ruling showed “some justice can prevail after all.”

The Trump administration had argued that Öztürk was removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act, claiming her activities posed adverse foreign policy consequences and amounted to support for the Palestinian group Hamas. Öztürk’s lawyers have said the allegations were retaliatory and tied solely to her protected speech.

Öztürk’s separate civil lawsuit challenging her detention remains pending in federal appeals court. She is among several international students targeted in the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine campus activists, including Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi.

The Trump administration has alleged that Öztürk, Khalil and Mahdawi engaged in activities supporting Hamas but has not presented evidence to substantiate the claims.

An unsealed State Department memo revealed last month that U.S. officials had no evidence against Öztürk beyond the article she co-authored for a student magazine, even as officials moved to revoke her student visa.