The Trump administration’s abrupt street arrests of legal immigrants, who subsequently disappear into government detention, should be a huge scandal met with swift action by Democrats in Congress.
But for some reason, just 34 Democrats in the Senate and the House have signed on to a letter demanding answers about the arrest of Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk in Massachusetts and other international students who have had their legal immigration status swiftly revoked without due process and now face deportation.
The letter calls for “answers about this case and about ICE’s policy that has led to the identification and arrest of university students with valid legal status,” and was sent Thursday to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
On Thursday, Rubio boasted that he had revoked the visas of “more than 300 at this point” while failing to mention a specific reason why Ozturk’s visa was revoked. No justification has been provided for University of Alabama doctoral student Alireza Doroudi’s arrest and detention either, and his whereabouts are unknown.
The 34 Democrats who signed the letter to Trump administration officials are below:
- Representative Yassamin Ansari—Arizona
- Senator Adam Schiff—California
- Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton—District of Columbia (nonvoting delegate)
- Representative Hank Johnson—Georgia
- Representative Delia Ramirez—Illinois
- Representative André Carson—Indiana
- Senator Brian Schatz—Hawaii
- Representative Jill Tokuda—Hawaii
- Senator Chris Van Hollen—Maryland
- Senator Elizabeth Warren—Massachusetts
- Senator Edward Markey—Massachusetts
- Representative Ayanna Pressley—Massachusetts
- Representative Lori Trahan—Massachusetts
- Representative Katherine Clark—Massachusetts
- Representative Stephen Lynch—Massachusetts
- Representative Seth Moulton—Massachusetts
- Representative James McGovern—Massachusetts
- Representative Jake Auchincloss—Massachusetts
- Representative Rashida Tlaib—Michigan
- Representative Ilhan Omar—Minnesota
- Senator Tina Smith—Minnesota
- Senator Andy Kim—New Jersey
- Representative LaMonica McIver—New Jersey
- Representative Bonne Watson Coleman—New Jersey
- Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—New York
- Senator Jeff Merkley—Oregon
- Representative Summer Lee—Pennsylvania
- Representative Greg Casar—Texas
- Representative Lloyd Doggett—Texas
- Senator Bernie Sanders—Vermont (Independent who caucuses with Democrats)
- Senator Peter Welch—Vermont
- Senator Tim Kaine—Virginia
- Representative Donald S. Beyer Jr.—Virginia
- Representative Mark Pocan—Wisconsin
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