Judge says detained Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk must be moved to Vermont

Tufts University PhD candidate Rumeysa Ozturk must be transferred from Louisiana to Vermont, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday in a blow to the Trump administration.

Ozturk was detained by plainclothes immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) agents wearing masks on a street close to her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, on 25 March, as she was on her way to break her fast for Ramadan.

She is one of several foreign students in the US on legal visas who have been arrested by the Trump administration in its crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices.

Ozturk’s lawyers said she was arrested for co-authoring an opinion article in a student newspaper. She has not been charged with any crime.

Ozturk was driven to multiple places in three states - including New Hampshire and Vermont - before being flown thousands of miles to an ICE detention centre in Basile, Louisiana, making it difficult for her to gain access to legal help and community.

Read more: Judge says detained Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk must be moved to Vermont