US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated plainly at a press conference on March 27, that the US government revoked the student visa of Rumeysa Ozturk, who was kidnapped by plainclothes federal agents when she was walking to an Iftar dinner. In the same breath, Rubio announced that he had revoked the visas of 300 other students since Trump began his second term on January 20.
“It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” Rubio said at the press conference, which took place in Guyana on Thursday.
A harrowing video of Ozturk’s kidnapping by plainclothes immigration agents has gone viral on social media. Ozturk was walking to an Iftar dinner when multiple masked individuals approached her, and proceeded to detain her and force her into a nearby vehicle while she screamed for help. A neighbor’s voice is heard nearby in the video: “Is this a kidnapping?”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Ozturk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” These accusations seem to stem from an op-ed Ozturk wrote alongside other students in the Tufts student newspaper, calling on the university to divest from Israel.
Rubio, however, seems to be accusing Ozturk of far more. “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,” said Rubio.
According to the Secretary of State, “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. And 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.”
Kidnappings spark mass community outrage
On March 25, thousands of people took to the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts, the city where Ozturk lives and was kidnapped by ICE agents. On Thursday, March 27, a crowd of hundreds gathered outside of Somerville City Hall to put pressure on the city council as it voted on a ballot initiative for the city to divest from Israel. The council voted 9-2 in favor of adding BDS as a ballot initiative in November. Protesters also rallied to denounce the ICE abduction of Ozturk. A massive crowd of people was prevented by local police from entering City Hall.
According to the US government’s online ICE detainee locator, Ozturk is now being held over 1,000 miles from home at the South Louisiana ICE processing center.
Ozturk is only one of many other students also recently abducted by ICE. Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student from Iran who is studying mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama, was abducted by ICE agents at 5 am at his home on Tuesday, March 25. He is currently being held at the Jena/LaSalle ICE Detention Facility in Louisiana, where Mahmoud Khalil is still being held, who fell victim to the first ICE abduction of a student activist back on March 8.
On March 28, a hearing was held in Khalil’s case at a District of New Jersey Federal Court, as part of the activist’s ongoing struggle to get back home to his wife and to see the birth of his first son. Federal Judge Michael Farbiarz refused to consider freeing Khalil on bail, and has yet to rule on whether the Trump administration can move Khalil’s case to Louisiana—an action which Khalil’s legal team has challenged.
Also on March 28, journalist Ken Klippenstein reported that he had obtained a “sensitive” State Department directive, issued by Marco Rubio, which enforces a “social media review” of new and returning student visa applicants for evidence of “advocating for, sympathizing with, or persuading others to endorse or espouse terrorist activities or support” for terrorist organizations. Specific reference is made in the document to students who participate in “pro-Hamas events,” which is how Trump officials such as Rubio have referred to pro-Palestine protests.
New Rubio order (leaked to me) directs the State Department to spy on student visa holders and applicants social media for “a hostile attitude toward U.S. citizens or U.S. culture (including government, institutions, or founding principles).”
Order here:https://t.co/rgQlIsNs7i
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) March 28, 2025
