Homeland Security agent says he told not to tell Rümeysa Öztürk her visa was revoked when she was arrested

Federal investigators normally tasked with uncovering narcotic and financial crimes were told to prioritize the arrest of a university student with no criminal record, and not tell her that her visa was revoked, a Homeland Security Investigation agent testified Tuesday, a marked shift for the agency under President Donald Trump.

Federal investigators normally tasked with uncovering narcotic and financial crimes were told to prioritize the arrest of a university student with no criminal record, and not tell her that her visa was revoked, a Homeland Security Investigation agent testified Tuesday, a marked shift for the agency under President Donald Trump. The agent, Patrick Cunningham, appeared during the second week of a trial in Boston over the Trump administration’s so-called ideological deportation policy, which a group of university professors say is intended to protected political speech. The trial has highlighted how the Department of Homeland Security began taking orders from the State Department as it targeted certain professors and students to change their immigration status and work to have them deported. Critics have claimed the administration is targeting these individuals because of their pro-Palestinian views and statements against Israel. Cunningham was asked Tuesday about the arrest of Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was approached by a plain-clothed officer near her Somerville, Massachusetts, home in March. In footage of the arrest, the officer can be seen grabbing Öztürk’s wrists after approaching her as other officers walked toward Öztürk from across the street. According to Cunningham, a high-ranking agent in Boston, the State Department had communicated to HSI that Öztürk’s visa had been revoked and passed information about the student to HSI, including an anti-Israel op-ed written by Öztürk. “I can’t recall receiving a communication like this,” from the State Department before, Cunningham said. In the past, he said, HSI was not involved in most immigration-related cases, sticking primarily to drug, financial and other crimes.