A State Department memo obtained by The Washington Post showed the federal government’s investigation of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk could not find any links to antisemitism or terrorism.
The memo, issued in March and described to the Post, said there was not enough evidence for Secretary of State Marco Rubio to order Ozturk’s removal based on an immigration law that says the secretary can order the deportation of a noncitizen that threatens the foreign policy of the United States. The rarely used law has become a key weapon in the administration’s immigration crackdown.
Ozturk was detained March 25; video of the incident went viral as multiple officers in plain clothes walked up to her on the street and took her away in an unmarked van.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had previously said Ozturk was involved in activities that were “in support of Hamas,” without offering further evidence.
A memo by DHS, according to the Post, found the federal government is targeting Ozturk over an op-ed she wrote that called on Tufts to cut ties with companies that were involved with Israel.
But the State Department memo says none of the evidence pointed to ties to antisemitism or terrorist activity.
However, according to the department’s memo, Ozturk can still be deported under another part of immigration law that allows visas to be revoked at the discretion of the secretary of State, the Post reported.
The Ph.D. student is one of hundreds of students who have had their visas revoked, although in a court filing Ozturk said she was not aware her status was revoked when she was arrested.
In the same filing, Ozturk detailed “unsanitary, unsafe, and inhumane” conditions of her detention and the fear she experienced as she was transported from Massachusetts to Vermont and finally landed in Louisiana.
In a court hearing Monday, Ozturk’s lawyers argued for her release and said her proceedings should not be held in Louisiana.
The hearing comes after an immigration judge ruled Friday the deportation proceedings against Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and former lead negotiator for the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University, could move forward. Khalil is being targeted under the same law.
