Judge Orders Detained Student Released on Bail

A federal judge on Friday released a Tufts University student on bail more than six weeks after she was arrested while walking along a street in a Boston suburb, per the AP. US District Judge William Sessions of Vermont ordered the immediate release of Rumeysa Ozturk from a Louisiana immigration center as she awaits a final decision on her claim that she's been illegally detained. Ozturk, a native of Turkey, told the judge of asthma attacks in detention and her desire to finish her doctorate degree focusing on children and social media.

Sessions found that Ozturk did little more than write an op-ed for her school newspaper in which she criticized Israel, reports Politico. "That literally is the case. There is no evidence here … absent consideration of the op-ed," the judge said. "Her continued detention cannot stand." Ozturk, 30, appeared at the bail hearing remotely from the Louisiana facility. She was to be released Friday on her own recognizance with no travel restrictions, Sessions said. He said that she is not a danger to the community or a flight risk, but that he might amend his release order to consider any specific conditions by ICE.

(More Tufts University stories.)