Lawyer confronts ICE to free detained Tufts student

Mahsa Khanbabai, an immigration lawyer, said she confronted Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, La., as she fought to free her client, Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, after a federal judge ordered Ms. Ozturk’s release.

Ms. Khanbabai described a remote hearing on May 9 in which Vermont federal Judge William K. Sessions found the government had introduced no evidence that Ms. Ozturk posed a public risk and said her detention could chill speech. The prosecutor declined to question Ms. Ozturk at the hearing, and the judge ordered her release, according to Ms.

Khanbabai. After the courtroom victory, Ms. Khanbabai said ICE agents tried to require an ankle bracelet, telling her the requirement came "from D.C.," despite the judge’s order barring monitoring. Her legal team obtained a clarification from the judge and, the lawyer said, Ms. Ozturk was ultimately released without electronic monitoring.

The episode unfolded amid a broader surge in detentions: the article says that in the nine months since Ms. Ozturk’s arrest tens of thousands have been taken into ICE custody, and it reports the Homeland Security Department defended the actions, saying "The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system," and adding, "We also have the right to put illegal aliens on GPS monitors." The piece says Ms.

Key Topics

Politics, Rumeysa Ozturk, Mahsa Khanbabai, Ice, Dhs, Tufts University