Kseniia Petrova’s path from a Harvard laboratory to an immigration cell began with frogs.
The Russian national who has been working as a researcher at Harvard Medical School failed to declare “non-hazardous” frog embryos she was carrying with her on her return to the U.S. from France in February, Petrova’s attorney said. Rather than issue a fine, Petrova’s exchange visitor visa was revoked, and she was taken into custody.
Revoking Petrova’s visa was “a punishment grossly disproportionate to the situation,” her attorney, Greg Romanovsky, said, calling the error on the customs form “inadvertent.”
CNN did not receive a response from the Department of Homeland Security to a request for comment, but the department told ABC News ,"The messages retrieved from Petrova's phone indicated that she intended to transport the items across customs undetected."
Petrova is currently held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, according to ICE records. She awaits a hearing scheduled for June 9th which might result in her being sent back to Russia. Her lawyer claims that upon returning, Petrova would be immediately arrested due to her past vocal criticism against Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.
"Her detainment is not only unwarranted, but also unfair," Romanovsky stated.
CNN has examined court documents, attorney declarations, and communications from over fifty institutions of higher education nationwide. They verified that more than 340 students, teachers, and research personnel have seen their visas canceled so far this year.
Video below: 7 Harvard undergraduate students and 5 recent alumni face visa revocations, according to the university.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated earlier this month that the State Department, under his guidance, canceled over 300 visas, primarily focusing on student visas.
The initial well-known instances centered around individuals alleged to be aiding terror groups, similar to what occurred when Mahmoud Khalil was arrested after participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University.
Currently, many threats of deporting students now hinge on visa cancellations due to minor infractions such as petty crimes, say immigration lawyers, or occasionally without any explanation whatsoever.
The focus on foreign individuals connected to top-tier U.S. institutions occurs within the broader scope of the Trump administration’s stringent immigration policies. This includes asserting extensive authority to label certain immigrants as gang affiliates and expel them before they can have a hearing.
"All of these mechanisms within the immigration laws have been utilized previously, yet they employ them in such a manner as to create widespread alarm, disorder, and fear, aiming for students not to receive adequate legal counsel so that over time, they will simply depart the nation," stated Jeff Joseph, who is the incoming president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Many individuals connected to universities may be subject to potential deportation.
A visa is a formal authorization enabling individuals to lawfully enter the U.S., whether through airports or border crossings. However, as noted by Minneapolis-based immigration lawyer David Wilson in his conversation with CNN, revoking student visas due to various factors isn’t unheard of. Yet, compelling those who are already within the country to depart instantly presents quite another scenario, particularly during ongoing academic sessions, according to him.
“Think of a visa as the key to start a car,” Wilson explained. “However, it’s quite distinct to halt the vehicle midway through the road and inform someone they must exit.”
Below video: "I genuinely wish to complete my original purpose": Visa of Carnegie Mellon University student was canceled just a semester away from graduating.
The core issue lies within the lawsuit submitted on Monday by a Chinese graduate researcher from Dartmouth College. Xiaotian Liu—a computer science student who has been studying in the U.S. since 2016—sought a temporary restraining order from a court to prevent authorities from expelling him from the country.
Liu had his F-1 student visa rescinded; his lawyers admit that the State Department has the authority to do this. However, they argue that this does not grant ICE the power to forcibly remove him from the country without providing an explanation.
His legal representatives stated in a court document, "He hasn’t broken any laws, including traffic regulations. Additionally, he has never exhibited violent behavior nor taken part in any protests within the U.S. or anywhere else."
A federal judge in New Hampshire approved Liu’s request for a temporary restraining order on Wednesday. When contacted, DHS provided no comment regarding Liu’s situation.
Attorneys report that immigration arrests frequently occur unexpectedly.
Visitors who receive explanations for their deportation are frequently taken aback by the information they're told.
A graduate student from the University of Minnesota named Doğukan Günaydin was arrested by ICE on March 27 due to a previous DUI offense, according to a high-ranking official with Homeland Security who spoke to CNN.
In legal documents, Günaydin’s lawyer states that online records indicate his visa revocation did not become official for seven hours after he was arrested during his commute to attend classes. according to KARE .
Wilson, who isn’t part of Günaydin’s case, mentioned that being charged with driving under the influence can lead to revocation of a visa; however, he has never witnessed it resulting in deportation from the country.
He stated that declaring someone's (legal) status as terminated due to those reasons lacks precedence and there is no authority supporting such an action.
Although the Department of Homeland Security has openly highlighted numerous initiatives aimed at deportation, students and faculty The procedure for canceling a visa is managed by the State Department, which has become less forthcoming.
"Given privacy concerns and the confidential nature of visas, we typically refrain from commenting on the Department’s actions regarding individual cases," a spokesperson stated to CNN when asked about several incidents.
In 2023, over 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. held student visas granted by the Department of Homeland Security, as reported. government report while the Department of State says The Exchange Visitor Program it oversees "offers chances to approximately 300,000 international participants from 200 countries and territories annually."
Courts turn into the final option for students seeking solutions.
According to numerous statements from immigration lawyers, the Trump administration often refrained from sharing specifics regarding their choices to revoke visas unless compelled by judicial proceedings.
For Khalil, the government brought up his omission regarding previous employment at the British Embassy in Beirut and his status as an unpaid intern with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East only after he initiated legal action. By the time his case came before a court, he had been transferred over a thousand miles away to a detention facility in Louisiana.
Not just students and their families were kept in the dark; several institutions—including the University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University, and UCLA—stated that the administration did not formally notify them about students whose visas had been canceled. Often, these schools discovered this information only when they conducted checks themselves. a government database and finding out that permission had been withdrawn without a clear reason.
"The termination notices suggest that all dismissals resulted from breaches of the conditions set forth in the individuals' visa programs," stated UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk. statement for students and faculty on Sunday.
A number of students have had their visas canceled without any additional steps being taken so far, whereas others have been detained with the aim of deportation by the authorities.
"The highly visible measures implemented by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security concerning certain students, involving their removal from residences or public areas, typically only occur under circumstances indicating a security concern after a student visa has been rescinded," explains Sarah Spreitzer from the American Council on Education. told the Associated Press The danger of such rapid expulsion is something unprecedented.
The uncertainty surrounding what is causing some academics to be stripped of their ability to conduct research in the U.S. is alarming the global student body.
"I believe I should express what everybody here is thinking; we're all experiencing anxiety," stated a first-year student with a study visa who attends one of Philadelphia's prestigious universities.
CNN provided the student with anonymity due to concerns about potential reprisal.
We experience anxiety since we're unsure about future events," the student told CNN during an interview amidst a packed schedule of work-study programs, classes, and assignments. "Anyone could potentially become a target for reasons unknown.
READ MORE: Over 300 student visas were canceled as part of an expanded immigration crackdown.
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