A Turkish student who was detained by ICE and had her US visa revoked has no known connections to antisemitism or terrorism, a State Department memo has revealed.
Rumeysa Ozturk, a graduate student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was swarmed by plain-clothed federal agents and taken into custody on March 25.
The 30-year-old was accused of ‘engaging in activities in support of Hamas,’ a Palestinian group recognized by the US government as a terrorist group.
She was hauled to a hell-hole Louisiana immigration detention center as one of hundreds of students facing the same fate, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed.
But an internal memo from the State Department that was described to The Washington Post states the agency found no evidence of Ozturk being linked to Hamas or antisemitism.
The notice, reportedly written by an office of the State Department, was issued days before her dramatic arrest, which was caught on surveillance video that sparked outrage.
The State Department told the outlet they ‘do not comment on ongoing or pending litigation.’
In a previous memo from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official Andre Watson to State Department official John Armstrong obtained by The Post, the agencies claimed they had reasonable grounds to believe she was a threat to the US.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, detailed the hellish conditions inside the infamous Louisiana immigration detention center she is being held at
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Ozturk’s visa had been revoked, saying at a press conference that she was one of several hundred students facing the same fate
It was reportedly claimed that Ozturk ‘engaged in anti-Israel activism in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023.’
Based on the information brought to light by the recently unveiled memo, the DHS and the State Department could not back the stance that she was a threat.
They had even looked her up in various US government databases, which allegedly emphasized the fact that her past was clean.
However, the department did say she could potentially be deported under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows for visas to be taken away based on the secretary of state’s judgement.
A document dated March 21 states this discretionary authority is what was ‘approved’ for Ozturk’s visa removal, The Post reported.
The DHS declined The Post’s request for comment.
Ozturk was one of four students last March who co-authored an op-ed piece in The Tufts Daily, the college’s student newspaper.
The piece criticized the university’s response to its community union Senate passing resolutions demanding that Tufts ‘acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,’ disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
It said: ‘These resolutions were the product of meaningful debate by the Senate and represent a sincere effort to hold Israel accountable for clear violations of international law.’
Ozturk, who is from Turkey and currently studying at Tufts University in Massachusetts, was swarmed by a group of individuals in March
Ozturk alleged once she was put in the Louisiana facility, she was not allowed to go outside during the first week and had limited access to food and supplies
The piece added that the university’s response to the resolutions ‘has been wholly inadequate and dismissive of the Senate, the collective voice of the student body.’
When she was detained, Ozturk had been on her to meet her friends for iftar, a meal to break her Ramadan fast.
‘I felt very scared and concerned as the men surrounded me and grabbed my phone from me,’ Ozurk said in a statement, according to CBS.
At one point, she claimed she was ‘sure they were going to kill me.’
In a statement at the time, ICE wrote: ‘Rumesya Ozturk is a Turkish national and Tufts University graduate student, granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa.
‘DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.
‘A visa is a privilege not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security.’
Rubio announced her visa had been taken away a few days later. Despite his aggressive deportation efforts, a Boston judge pushed back and said the student could not be sent out of America yet.
When she was detained, Ozturk had been on her to meet her friends for iftar, a meal to break her Ramadan fast
Judge Denise Casper ruled she ‘shall not be removed from the United States until’ she decided what state has jurisdiction to rule over Ozturk’s controversial arrest.
Rubio said has no hesitations detaining student activists – even if they have not broken the law.
He claimed these activists lied on their visa applications because they support Hamas.
‘If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States, and with that visa participate in that sort of activity, we’re going to take away your visa,’ he said.
In recent court filings, Ozturk claimed her detention violated her constitutional rights and she has been living in inhumane conditions.
Ozturk alleged once she was put in the Louisiana facility, she was locked up inside for first week and had limited access to food and supplies for two weeks.
‘When they do the inmate count we are threatened to not leave our beds or we will lose privileges, which means that we are often stuck waiting in our beds for hours,’ she said.
A hearing for Ozturk’s case is scheduled for Monday in Vermont. Her attorneys have argued her deportation would violate her First Amendment rights.
