The State Department circulated an internal memo that said it found no evidence linking Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk of Turkey to antisemitism or pro-terrorist public statements, The Washington Post reported Sunday night.
The report cited the March memo as "described" to the Post.
The State Department's purported finding came days before Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Ozturk on a Boston street with the intent of deporting her.
The memo was written by an office within the State Department, according to the Post. The State Department declined to comment to the Post, saying, "we do not comment on ongoing or pending litigation."
A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said late last month that federal authorities detained Ozturk and revoked her visa after an investigation found she had "engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans."
Ozturk was transported to a detention center in Basile, Louisiana, after being detained on March 25. A hearing is scheduled for Monday in a Vermont federal courtroom.
Ozturk was one of four students last March who wrote a guest column in The Tufts Daily criticizing the university's response to student demands that Tufts "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide," disclose its investments, and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Ozturk's actions went far beyond a column.
Rubio said late last month that the State Department had, at that point, revoked more than 300 student visas of foreign students who, like Ozturk, participate in actions such as "vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus," among other things, like voicing support for Hamas terrorists in Gaza or antisemitic speech.
However, the Post reported the memo as saying Rubio did not have sufficient grounds for revoking Ozturk's visa.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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