Boston, Massachusetts - The Trump administration's Department of Justice argued in new court filings Tuesday that a federal judge in Boston lacks jurisdiction to decide the legality of Tufts University PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk's detention.

Öztürk was detained by plainclothes immigration agents on the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts, on March 25, as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on noncitizen students who support Palestinian human rights. The disturbing incident was captured on surveillance video and sparked mass public outrage.

The Trump administration revoked Öztürk's student visa days earlier – on March 21 – but had not notified her.

In March of last year, the Fulbright scholar had co-written an op-ed in The Tufts Daily criticizing the university's response to calls for divestment from Israel, among other demands.

Joke of the Day Joke of the Day for April 24, 2025: Spring jokes to make you smile

After her detention, Öztürk was sent from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to Vermont, before boarding a flight to Louisiana, where she is currently detained. She reportedly suffered an asthma attack during transit.

Now, the DOJ argues that the US District Court in Boston has no jurisdiction to decide on Öztürk's habeas corpus petition challenging her detention, as she was no longer in the state at the time of the filing.

Öztürk "is not without recourse to challenge the revocation of her visa and her arrest and detention, but such challenge cannot be made before this court," Assistant US Attorney Mark Sauter wrote in a filing, according to The Boston Globe, arguing that the case should instead go before an immigration court.

Öztürk's arrest mirrors Trump administration actions against Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, Georgetown University post-doctoral researcher Badar Khan Suri, Columbia student Yunseo Chung, and Cornell University doctoral student Momodou Taal, among others.

A federal judge on Tuesday denied a Trump administration motion to have Khalil's case transferred to Louisiana after the government challenged the New Jersey court's jurisdiction.

In Taal's case, a federal judge in New York said the plaintiffs had not established she had jurisdiction over the request for a temporary restraining order to halt removal proceedings, prompting the PhD student to voluntarily leave the US.

US District Court Judge Denise Casper last week temporarily barred Öztürk's deportation as her case is under review.