The federal government is seeking to have Rümeysa Öztürk’s case dismissed, claiming she was no longer in Massachusetts when her attorneys filed their initial complaint
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Öztürk was detained at about 5:15 p.m. According to the timeline provided by the government, she left Somerville in ICE custody at 5:49pm, stopped in Methuen and departed at 6:36 p.m. for Lebanon, New Hampshire. Öztürk left Lebanon for the ICE field Office in St. Albans, Vermont, arriving at 10:28 p.m.
At some point in the evening, attorney Mahsa Khanbabai was retained for Öztürk and she filed a complaint on her behalf with the District of Massachusetts at about 10:01 p.m. The federal government said Talwani’s order came at 10:55 p.m.
While in Vermont, Öztürk was issued a notice to appear in a Louisiana court on April 7, and transported to the airport in Burlington at 4:00 a.m., departing at 5:31 a.m. She arrived in Alexandria, Louisiana, at 2:35 p.m., and was transported to the South Louisiana Immigration Center in Basile later in the day.
“The government is trying to play a cruel game of jurisdictional musical chairs with Ms. Öztürk’s life, and her rights and freedom hang in the balance,” said Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel with the ACLU’s Center for Democracy, which is assisting with the case. “We hope the court shuts this effort to manipulate our basic rights down and proceeds to addressing our client’s urgent claims.”