Rubio, a staunch supporter of Israel, said that he personally signed off on every visa revocation and rejected charges he was violating US protections of free speech.
“Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,“ he told reporters on a visit to Guyana.
Since his return to the White House on January 20, President Donald Trump has moved aggressively against student activists and universities over the disruptive protests that swept US colleges campuses in response to the Gaza war.
Ozturk had penned an op-ed in a student newspaper decrying Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide.” She now faces deportation.
“Masked DHS agents unlawfully arrested my client,“ she said, referring to the Department of Homeland Security.
“This is a horrifying violation of Rumeysa’s constitutional rights to due process and free speech. She must be immediately released,“ Pressley said in a statement.
Rubio, asked if Ozturk was being targeted over her writing in a student newspaper, said that she met his criteria for visa revocation without providing details.
Rubio said that visas were a “gift” at the discretion of the State Department and not subject to any judicial review.
Asked if the Trump administration would go after anyone who presents dissenting views, Rubio said, “If you’re complaining about paper straws, then we’re obviously not going to yank a visa over that.”
The most high-profile deportation case is Mahmoud Khalil, who led protests at Columbia University in New York. He was also taken to Louisiana ahead of deportation proceedings, despite being a US permanent resident.
The US government has since pointed to technicalities in his original student visa.
“If 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, creating a ruckus, we're not going to give you a visa,“ Rubio said in Guyana.
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