Immigration and Customs Enforcement is detaining a research assistant at Harvard Medical School, who is Russian. A lawyer for Kseniia Petrova said the government is trying to deport her to Russia, where she faces arrest for “previous political activism and outspoken opposition to Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Petrova tried to re-enter the U.S. at Logan International Airport in Boston on February 16 when a customs and border protection official discovered she “didn’t complete the required non-hazardous scientific samples for the non-hazardous scientific samples she brought from France,” attorney Gregory Romanovsky said in a statement.
“The CBP was authorized to seize the item and fined,” Romanovsky wrote. “Instead, they chose to cancel Ms. Petrova’s visa and detain her.”
Petrova is still in custody on the Louisiana ice. Boston globe Her detention was reported earlier.
Romanovsky wrote: “The CBP improperly invoked widespread immigration powers to impose serious disproportionate punishment on the situation. This transcendence reflects a broader focus on the treatment of international scholars by the U.S. immigration authorities.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE, told Internal Advanced ED In an email, Petrova “was lying to federal officials to carry biological matter to the country. Subsequent K9 examinations found unannounced dishes, containers of unknown substances, loose vials of embryonic frog cells from a bunch of embryos, and all embryonic frog cells without proper permission. It.”
A Harvard spokesman did not provide an interview on Friday about the situation or answering questions from multiple emails. In a brief email, the medical school’s media relations department said: “We are monitoring this.”
Romanovsky has filed a lawsuit to restore Petrova’s visa.
“Ms. Petrova’s 1.5-month detention has caused significant damage to her professional and personal life,” Romanovsky said in a statement. “As a dedicated and respected researcher, her work is crucial to scientific advancement. We strongly urge the ICE to release Ms. Petrova while continuing legal processes.”
