After 45 days in immigration custody, Rumeysa Öztürk returned to Boston—where her ordeal began on 25 March with a masked arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In a press conference following her release, Ms. Öztürk, a student at Tufts University, expressed gratitude for the support she had received and reaffirmed her belief in the U.S. justice system and the principle of free expression.

Her release on Friday came after a federal judge raised concerns that prolonged detention could have a chilling effect on “the speech of the millions and millions of individuals in this country who are not citizens.”

Michael Drescher, a lawyer for the U.S. government, stated that while Ms. Öztürk had been freed from immigration custody, deportation proceedings against her would continue in immigration court.

According to her legal team, Ms. Öztürk was apprehended by plainclothes ICE agents wearing masks outside her Somerville, Massachusetts, residence while she was on the phone with her mother. She was swiftly transported by plane to a detention centre in Louisiana. For the first 24 hours, neither her family, friends nor legal counsel knew of her whereabouts.

Agencies.