Updated May 7, 2025 at 10:24 AM MDT
A federal appeals court in New York Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to transfer R眉meysa 脰zt眉rk, a Tufts University doctoral student, from Louisiana to Vermont to continue her immigration detention in that state while a judge there decides whether to release her on bail.
The Trump administration has one week to comply with the transfer, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals .
"The District of Vermont is likely the proper venue to adjudicate 脰zt眉rk's habeas petition because, at the time she filed, she was physically in Vermont," the panel wrote in its ruling.
脰zt眉rk has been detained at a after being arrested on the street in Sommerville, Massachusetts on March 25 by six federal plainclothes immigration agents. The Department of Homeland Security of engaging "in activities in support of Hamas."
Last year she wrote an opinion essay in a university paper criticizing the school for its handling of a handful of resolutions passed by the student senate related related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, including "the Ongoing Genocide in Gaza."
Her attorneys say she's being held in violation of her free speech and due process rights and that the government has not shown any evidence she supports terrorism. She has not been charged with any crime.
"No one should be arrested and locked up for their political views," said Esha Bhandari with the ACLU, which is representing her in federal court. "We're grateful the court refused the government's attempt to keep her isolated from her community and her legal counsel as she pursues her case for release."
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment.
In court documents, the Trump administration has claimed that ICE sent 脰zt眉rk and other students to Louisiana because there was not enough detention space in immigration facilities where they were arrested.
But a federal judge in Massachusetts that there were detention beds available in Maine, a state closer to Vermont than Louisiana.
Wednesday's ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals is a win for 脰zt眉rk. have said that fighting deportation is more challenging in Louisiana than in Vermont. Any appeal from the southern state would be considered by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative courts in the nation.
脰zt眉rk's attorneys say she suffers from asthma attacks that have worsened in detention.
She is one of arrested by the Trump administration as part of its crackdown on foreign students who express what the administration claims are antisemitic views.
A federal judge in Vermont will hold 脰zt眉rk's bail hearing on Friday.
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