A US federal judged on Friday ordered the release of Turkish national and PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk. Öztürk was detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in March after her student F-1 visa was revoked, and has remained in custody for several weeks.

In April, US District Judge William Sessions in Burlington, ordered her return to Vermont, the jurisdiction in which her habeas petition was transferred after having been filed in Massachusetts. Afterward, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an emergency petition to stay the order. Subsequently, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the DOJ’s request for a stay. The appeals court held that the government had not shown that it would likely succeed on the merits of the appeal or be irreparably harmed absent a stay of the order.

On Friday, after hearing hours of oral arguments from Öztürk’s attorneys and US attorneys, Sessions ordered Öztürk’s release from detention. Öztürk appeared remotely from the Louisiana detention facility she has been held in throughout the proceedings. US Attorney Michael Drescher, acting US attorney for Vermont, assured the court that they would comply with the ruling. Moreover, Sessions has asked the US Attorney’s office to notify the court when Öztürk is released from the Louisiana detention facility.

Despite Friday’s ruling on the matter, deportation proceedings for Öztürk are still underway. However, her release and return to Vermont would place her in closer proximity to her legal counsel and medical care, which was an issue raised in her habeas proceedings, and may allow her to continue her doctrinal studies.