State Department declines to detail allegations that led to detention of Turkish student at Tufts

US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce is asked to elaborate on the allegations against a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University that led to her detention by US authorities who also revoked her American visa.

“I’m not going to speak on something that’s in the courts, that’s being adjudicated,” Bruce responds.

Rumeysa Ozturk co-authored an op-ed in a student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to Israel and to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”

Her family and attorney have denied that she took part in any illegal activity.

Earlier today, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about her case, which has sparked questions regarding the scope of the Trump administration’s visa revocations.

Rubio appeared to suggest that Ozturk is part of a movement that supports Hamas, though, no statements of hers uncovered to date have shown as much.

“People that are supportive of movements that run counter to the foreign policy of the United States. If necessary and a court compels us, we’ll provide that information. But ultimately, it’s a visa. Judges don’t issue student visas. There is no right to a student visa. We can cancel a student visa under the law just the same way that we can deny a student visa under the law. And we will do so in cases we find appropriate.

“If necessary and a court compels us, we’ll provide that information,” Rubio told reporters.

“But ultimately it’s a visa. Judges don’t issue student visas. There is no right to a student visa. We can cancel a student visa under the law just the same way that we can deny a student visa under the law. And we will do so in cases we find appropriate,” he said.