Judge Ends Öztürk Deportation Effort But Press Freedom Group Still 'Disgusted That It Ever Happened'
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
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Rümeysa Öztürk, 30, was arrested by ICE in March and spent 45 days in a Louisiana detention center before being released on bail, with the US State Department revoking her visa citing "support for Hamas" based on an opinion piece she co-wrote calling for Tufts University to divest assets from Israel.
An internal memo revealed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved Öztürk's deportation based solely on her advocacy for Palestinian rights, with no evidence of support for terrorist groups or antisemitic harassment, prompting immigration judge Roopal Patel to drop the case.
The decision has been welcomed by press freedom groups, with Seth Stern, chief of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, stating that Öztürk's case is "arguably the most blatant press freedom violation of this century" and that the administration's actions were "solely because she expressed views shared by millions of Americans about one of the most important issues of our time."
