Overview

• ICE agent Patrick Cunningham testified that DHS headquarters issued top-down directives after President Trump’s inauguration to prioritize visa-based arrests of pro-Palestinian student activists over criminal investigations.
• Cunningham said he consulted Department of Homeland Security legal counsel to confirm the legality of Öztürk’s arrest after her visa was covertly revoked.
• Assistant director Peter Hatch disclosed that investigators relied heavily on the pro-Israel Canary Mission website to compile profiles and identify international students for enforcement operations.
• Senior State Department official John Armstrong admitted in court that the agency revoked Öztürk’s visa at ICE’s request without notifying her in advance.
• US District Judge William G. Young will soon rule on whether the administration’s visa revocations and deportation tactics violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.