She was arrested for an op-ed. Now a judge has ordered her freed.
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Welcome to The Logoff. Patrick Reis is off today: Rümeysa Öztürk was detained by the Trump administration, seemingly just for writing an op-ed. Now, in a scorching new ruling, a federal judge ordered her freed.
What’s the background? Öztürk — a Tufts University PhD student and a Turkish national — was whisked off the streets of Massachusetts by ICE agents in late March. Her arrest was part of the Trump administration effort to revoke visas from students who protested Israel’s war in Gaza.
Her detention stood out as particularly shocking because there was no indication she had ever engaged in any disruptive or lawbreaking protests. She had merely co-authored an op-ed in Tufts’ student newspaper last year that criticized the war and urged school administrators to acknowledge students’ concerns about it.
A Trump administration spokesperson anonymously claimed in March that “DHS and ICE investigations found Öztürk engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” But to this day they have conspicuously failed to produce any evidence of that — including, when Öztürk filed suit, before a judge.
What did the judge say? Judge William Sessions III ordered Öztürk released “immediately.” Ruling from the bench, he sounded appalled by the Trump administration’s conduct, which he said “chills the speech of the millions and millions of people who are not citizens.”
He said Öztürk had made “very substantial claims of First Amendment and due process violations,” and that, furthermore, the government had offered “no evidence” about their motivation for detaining her other than the op-ed.
Is this case over, then? No. Öztürk was ordered released from detention. But the question of whether the US government can legally revoke her visa remains unresolved. While Sessions sounds very likely to rule in her favor, it’s unclear if conservatives on the Supreme Court will do the same, should the case reach them. Still, this case has been an embarrassment to the Trump administration, and perhaps there’s a faint glimmer of hope they’ll decide to just drop it. Too optimistic? Probably.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
If you want some good art film recommendations, Jia Zhangke — one of the best directors working today, in my view — visited the Criterion Closet this week and picked some of his favorites. His own films are also streaming on the Criterion Channel — if you’re interested in contemplative movies about the modernization of China that suddenly drop a Village People dance track, check them out!
