Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts student detained by ICE in March after signing her name to an editorial in the Tufts Daily, notched another legal victory, this time in immigration court.
“On January 29, 2026, the immigration court held that the Department of Homeland Security had not met its burden of proving removability, and the immigration court thereby terminated removal proceedings against Ms. Öztürk,” her lawyers wrote in a letter late Monday to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which is hearing the government’s appeal of Öztürk’s release order from a Vermont judge.
Filings in immigration court are not publicly available, and Öztürk’s attorneys indicated they may provide it under seal to the appeals court.
Because the government can appeal the immigration judge’s order to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and that board’s order can be appealed to a federal circuit court, the immigration court decision is not final. Therefore Öztürk’s Vermont habeas corpus case, which challenged her detention and under which she is out on bail, is not moot, her lawyers said.
“Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government,” said Öztürk said in a statement. “When we openly talk about the many injustices around us, including the treatment of immigrants and others who have been targeted and thrown in for-profit ICE prisons, as well as what is happening in Gaza, true justice will prevail.”
In December, in yet a third aspect of Öztürk’s litigation, federal district judge Denise J. Casper in Boston ordered Öztürk’s student status restored in SEVIS, the federal database that governs her ability to legally work in the country. On Friday, Feb. 6., the final day of the 60-day appeal period, the Government filed an appeal of that order to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. The case has not been scheduled for briefing or oral argument.
This story was updated to correct the name of the district judge who ordered Öztürk’s student status restored in SEVIS.
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