MORNING. MATT, WHAT DOES THAT LETTER SAY? WELL, ANTOINETTE MEMBERS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS DELEGATION ARE AMONG A GROUP OF 28 LAWMAKERS DEMANDING ANSWERS FROM FEDERAL AUTHORITIES ABOUT THIS DETAINMENT. NOW, IN THE LETTER, IT’S ADDRESSED TO ICE, DHS AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE. LAWMAKERS WRITE THE RATIONALE FOR THIS ARREST APPEARS TO BE THE STUDENTS EXPRESSION OF HER POLITICAL VIEWS. WE ARE CALLING FOR FULL DUE PROCESS AND ARE SEEKING ANSWERS ABOUT THIS CASE AND ABOUT ISIS POLICY THAT HAS LED TO THE IDENTIFICATION AND ARREST OF STUDENTS WITH VALID LEGAL STATUS. THE LETTER GOES ON TO SAY, QUOTE, ABSENT COMPELLING EVIDENCE JUSTIFYING HER DETENTION AND REVOCATION OF HER STATUS, WE CALL FOR AUSTRAC’S RELEASE AND THE RESTORATION OF HER VISA. NOW, BY NOW, YOU’VE LIKELY SEEN THE VIDEO OF 30 YEAR OLDS. THE 30 YEAR OLD’S DETAINMENT ON TUESDAY, UNDERCOVER FEDERAL AGENTS APPROACHING ÖZTÜRK IN A SOMERVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD AND TAKING HER AWAY. HER LAWYERS SAY SHE’S FROM TURKEY AND HAD A VALID VISA AND NO CRIMINAL HISTORY. HOMELAND SECURITY SAYS SHE, QUOTE, ENGAGED IN ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF HAMAS, BUT THEY ARE NOT ELABORATING. NOW, FRIENDS OF THE FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR SAY SHE DID NOT ADVOCATE FOR VIOLENCE AND HAS ONLY EXPRESSED HER FREE SPEECH. SHE’S NOT A CITIZEN OF THE US, BUT SHE’S AN EXEMPLARY CITIZEN, EXEMPLARY PERSON, EXEMPLARY STUDENT. EVEN HOW SHE REACTED IN THE CLIP, WHICH IS REALLY DISTURBING FOR EVERYONE TO SEE. BUT THE WAY SHE CARRIED HERSELF, EVEN IN THAT VIDEO, SHOWS HER PERSONALITY THROUGH AND THROUGH. NOW, THE SOMERVILLE CITY COUNCIL HELD A MOMENT OF SILENCE LAST NIGHT FOR ÖZTÜRK AS PEOPLE RALLIED OUTSIDE FOR HER SAFE RETURN. HER FRIENDS BELIEVE AN OP ED SHE COAUTHORED LAST YEAR IS WHY SHE WAS DETAINED. IN IT, THE AUTHORS DEMAND THAT TUFTS UNIVERSITY DIVEST FROM FUNDING FROM ISRAEL. SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO DID MENTION THAT OP ED WHEN TALKING ABOUT THE FACT THAT AUSTRAC’S VISA HAS BEEN REVOKED. REPORTING LIVE A
Lawmakers pen letter to feds, demanding release of detained Tufts University student
Lawmakers are demanding the Trump administration answer questions about the arrest of a Tufts University graduate student, who remains in United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after she was detained by federal agents in Massachusetts. Rumeysa Ozturk was swiped off the street near her Somerville, Massachusetts, home by undercover ICE agents on Tuesday.In a letter to ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a group of 28 lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are questioning the arrest and want to know why Ozturk was detained. “The rationale for this arrest appears to be this student’s expression of her political views. We are calling for full due process in this case and are seeking answers about this case and about ICE’s policy that has led to the identification and arrest of university students with valid legal status,” the group wrote. The letter goes on to say, “Absent compelling evidence justifying her detention and the revocation of her status… we call for Ozturk’s release and the restoration of her visa.”Video of the 30-year-old’s detainment captured the moments federal agents approached Ozturk and took her into custody. She is now being detained in Louisiana. Her lawyer said she’s from Turkey, had a valid visa and no criminal history; however, Homeland Security officials said she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” but they’re not elaborating.On Thursday, Rubio laid out the federal government’s position in clear terms during an event in Guyana.”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,” Rubio said. “Once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States. And we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country. So it’s just that simple.” Somerville City Council held a moment of silence for her during a Thursday night meeting, while people rallied outside for her safe return.”How just full of rage I am,” Somerville City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen said.Ozturk was taken away by ICE agents as she left her home to break the Ramadan fast. Her friends are now vouching for her, both professionally and personally, saying the Fulbright Scholar from Turkey had a valid visa, no criminal history, and is soft-spoken and non-violent.”She’s not a citizen of the U.S., but she’s an exemplary citizen, an exemplary person, exemplary student,” Ozturk’s friend Reyyan Bilge said. “The way she carried herself even in that video shows her personality, through and through. It’s unbelievable. It’s not constitutional.”Ozturk wrote an op-ed last year demanding Tufts University divest funding from Israel.Rubio said the U.S. revoked her visa.”If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us the reason you are coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus — we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio said.However, Ozturk’s friends said she did none of that.”This is freedom of speech, it’s not crossing the boundaries,” Bilge said.Protesters outside Somerville City Hall rallied in support of her.”Let’s see the evidence,” protester Michael Johnson said. “The evidence will come out in court, but she’s not in court. She’s whisked away like the gulag. It’s sickening. People are getting ripped off the street because of their views? It’s wrong.”Ozturk’s friends said before her arrest, she had been getting doxed and that she was on the phone with her mother when ICE agents took her away.
SOMERVILLE, Mass. —Lawmakers are demanding the Trump administration answer questions about the arrest of a Tufts University graduate student, who remains in United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after she was detained by federal agents in Massachusetts.
Rumeysa Ozturk was swiped off the street near her Somerville, Massachusetts, home by undercover ICE agents on Tuesday.
In a letter to ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a group of 28 lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are questioning the arrest and want to know why Ozturk was detained.
“The rationale for this arrest appears to be this student’s expression of her political views. We are calling for full due process in this case and are seeking answers about this case and about ICE’s policy that has led to the identification and arrest of university students with valid legal status,” the group wrote.
The letter goes on to say, “Absent compelling evidence justifying her detention and the revocation of her status… we call for Ozturk’s release and the restoration of her visa.”
Video of the 30-year-old’s detainment captured the moments federal agents approached Ozturk and took her into custody. She is now being detained in Louisiana.
Her lawyer said she’s from Turkey, had a valid visa and no criminal history; however, Homeland Security officials said she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” but they’re not elaborating.
On Thursday, Rubio laid out the federal government’s position in clear terms during an event in Guyana.
“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,” Rubio said. “Once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States. And we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country. So it’s just that simple.”
Somerville City Council held a moment of silence for her during a Thursday night meeting, while people rallied outside for her safe return.
“How just full of rage I am,” Somerville City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen said.
Ozturk was taken away by ICE agents as she left her home to break the Ramadan fast.
Her friends are now vouching for her, both professionally and personally, saying the Fulbright Scholar from Turkey had a valid visa, no criminal history, and is soft-spoken and non-violent.
“She’s not a citizen of the U.S., but she’s an exemplary citizen, an exemplary person, exemplary student,” Ozturk’s friend Reyyan Bilge said. “The way she carried herself even in that video shows her personality, through and through. It’s unbelievable. It’s not constitutional.”
Ozturk wrote an op-ed last year demanding Tufts University divest funding from Israel.
Rubio said the U.S. revoked her visa.
“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us the reason you are coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus — we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio said.
However, Ozturk’s friends said she did none of that.
“This is freedom of speech, it’s not crossing the boundaries,” Bilge said.
Protesters outside Somerville City Hall rallied in support of her.
“Let’s see the evidence,” protester Michael Johnson said. “The evidence will come out in court, but she’s not in court. She’s whisked away like the gulag. It’s sickening. People are getting ripped off the street because of their views? It’s wrong.”
Ozturk’s friends said before her arrest, she had been getting doxed and that she was on the phone with her mother when ICE agents took her away.
