Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk’s visa revoked, confirms US Secretary of State Rubio
A screenshot from surveillance footage shows Rumeysa Ozturk surrounded by masked, plainclothes federal immigration agents, accessed on March 26, 2025. (Photo via GBH)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Thursday that Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk’s visa was revoked, defending her arrest after she penned an article critical of Israel.
“We revoked her visa,” Rubio said during a news conference in Guyana, referring to Ozturk’s F1 student visa. “We grant visas for education, not to create social activists who disrupt university campuses.”
Rubio justified the decision, stating that foreign students involved in activism that disrupts academic life would face similar consequences.
“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you’re 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 … We’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio said.
“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 added.
However, Rubio did not present evidence linking Ozturk to violence. Her friends and family contend that her arrest followed a campaign by Canary Mission, a pro-Israel website that blacklists pro-Palestine students and activists, stemming from an article she co-authored criticizing Israel.
Meanwhile, emphasizing that arrests and visa revocations will continue, Rubio said in a post on X, “We will continue to cancel the visas of those whose presence or activities have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for our country.”
Ozturk was detained late Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, as she was on her way to an iftar dinner, according to her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai. The masked federal agents detained her in broad daylight, with authorities alleging she supported the Palestinian group Hamas—a claim that Ozturk’s family and advocates strongly deny.
"We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree — not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses," says @SecRubio on foreign students linked to terror groups.
"If we've given you a visa and then you decide to do that, we're gonna take it away." 🔥 pic.twitter.com/L1fHovvMcy
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 27, 2025
US Senator slams Ozturk’s detention
In contrast, U.S. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned Ozturk’s detention, calling it part of a “worrying pattern of restricting civil liberties.” She criticized the Trump administration for targeting students with legal status and deporting individuals without due process, framing it as an attack on the U.S. Constitution’s fundamental freedoms.
“This arrest is the latest in an alarming pattern to stifle civil liberties,” Warren said. “The Trump administration is targeting students with legal status and ripping people out of their communities without due process. This is an attack on our Constitution and basic freedoms—and we will push back.”
Turkish academic Rumeysa Ozturk detained by US authorities after being targeted by pro-Israel groups for Palestine protests
◼️ Ozturk recently co-authored article condemning Israel's actions in Gaza
◼️She now faces deportation despite holding a valid F-1 visa pic.twitter.com/XEzbZobcXK
— Türkiye Today (@turkiyetodaycom) March 26, 2025
Crackdown on pro-Palestinian students
Her detention follows a campaign by Canary Mission after she co-authored an op-ed in The Tufts Daily in 2024, urging Tufts University to recognize the Palestinian genocide and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
In 2024, Ozturk co-authored an op-ed for Tufts University’s newspaper, The Tufts Daily, urging the university to acknowledge what she described as the Palestinian genocide and to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
She was taken into custody by masked federal agents in broad daylight, with authorities claiming she engaged in activities supporting the Palestinian group Hamas—an allegation her family and advocates strongly deny.
No charges have been filed against Ozturk, her lawyer said. A viral video captured her detention, showing masked agents handcuffing her and forcibly taking away her phone.
The ICE Locator website indicated that Ozturk is being held at a detention facility in Louisiana.
Ozturk’s detention is part of a broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian students and academics under the Trump administration, which also targeted Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil and Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri.
