In a letter sent Thursday, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren demanded documentation from the federal government explaining its rationale for detaining Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts graduate student from Turkey who was apprehended by masked immigration enforcement agents while walking to dinner in Somerville last month.
In the letter addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Warren said it has been three weeks since Öztürk was arrested on March 25 and still the federal government has not charged her with a crime.
Öztürk, 30, is being held in a rural Louisiana detention facility on allegations that she engaged in activities in support of Hamas.
Government records reportedly showed that Öztürk was in “good immigration standing” when she was arrested, the letter said.
Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey and Representative Ayanna Pressley also signed onto Warren’s letter.
“As Ms. Öztürk’s representatives in Congress, we demand that the State Department release any memoranda or other documentation in its possession that address the basis — or lack thereof — for her visa revocation and apprehension,” the two-page letter said.
In particular, Warren and her colleagues are seeking an internal State Department memo reported on by the Washington Post.
The memo “concluded that the Trump administration lacked ‘any evidence showing that [Öztürk] engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization,’” Warren’s letter said.
“The memorandum thus appears to contradict the federal government’s publicly stated rationale for revoking Ms. Öztürk’s visa,” Warren wrote.
The memo has not been provided to members of Congress or made available to the public, the letter added,
“Ms. Öztürk’s case demands transparency,” the letter said. “The circumstances of her arrest and detention raise serious concerns about civil liberties, academic freedom, and free speech, as well as the Trump administration’s truthfulness.”
Warren set an April 30 deadline for receipt of the memo “and any other documentation in the State Department’s possession regarding the basis for Ms. Öztürk’s visa revocation and how she was identified for this action.”
On Wednesday, a federal immigration judge in Louisiana, denied Öztürk’s request for bond during a hearing that was closed to the press.
Government lawyers contended that Öztürk was both “a flight risk and a danger to the community,” according to a document filed by her lawyer in a separate case in Vermont.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.