US judge blocks Trump administration’s effort to deport Rumeysa Ozturk

A US judge blocked the Trump administration's effort to deport Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, in a ruling made on January 29, 2026. Ozturk, who studies children's relationship to social media, was arrested in March 2025 for her pro-Palestinian activism, specifically an editorial criticizing Tufts' response to Israel's war on Gaza. The Department of Homeland Security sought to revoke her visa based on this editorial. After spending 45 days in a Louisiana detention center, a federal judge ordered her release in May 2025, citing a violation of her free speech rights. Ozturk's lawyers stated that the immigration judge found the Department of Homeland Security failed to prove she should be removed from the US.

An immigration judge rejected the Trump administration's effort to deport Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, on January 29th. Öztürk was arrested in Massachusetts in March after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked her student visa, citing an editorial she co-authored criticizing Tufts' response to the war in Gaza. Her lawyers argued the arrest was retaliation for her free speech. The judge concluded that DHS had not proven she was removable, terminating the proceedings against her. Öztürk was previously detained for 45 days until a federal judge ordered her release, citing concerns about unlawful retaliation. While the decision is not public, the administration could appeal it.