U.S. District Judge William Sessions ordered Ozturk’s transfer to Vermont, where she was last confined before she was taken to Louisiana. The government requested a delay, but a federal appeals court upheld his decision Wednesday, ordering Ozturk to be transferred to ICE custody in Vermont no later than May 14.

Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk was released from a Louisiana detention center Friday, six weeks after masked federal agents took her into custody amid the Trump administration’s effort to deport noncitizens who have protested against the war in Gaza.

Thank you so much for being here,” Öztürk said. "I really appreciate you being here, and thanks so much for all the support and love.”