Federal immigration authorities have detained a Russian scientist who fled to the United States because she feared persecution for opposing the war in Ukraine.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aprehended Kseniia Petrova, who was granted a visa to conduct genetics research at Harvard Medical School, at Boston Logan International Airport on Feb. 16 after she allegedly failed to properly declare frog embryo samples she had brought from Paris, British newspaper The Guardian reported.
“She had her visa revoked and stated she was afraid to be sent back to Russia. At that point, she was taken to an ICE detention center,” colleague Cora Anderson said in a GoFundMe appeal to help with legal expenses.
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Petrova is being held in ICE custody in Louisiana while she awaits an asylum hearing on May 7, Fox News reported.
Anderson said in another post on Facebook that Petrova was initially taken to a facility in Vermont before being transferred to Louisiana, where she is now.
“Where she is now is a jail that has space rented by ICE and is kept in a room with over 80 other female detainees,” she wrote.
The Daily Beast has contacted ICE and Customs and Border Protection for comment.
Petrova, whom colleagues described as “spectacular,” feared being deported to Russia because she criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, said her boss, Harvard Medical School researcher Leon Peshkin.
She had already been arrested for calling for Putin’s impeachment. She fled first to Georgia and then came to the U.S.
Russia has tried more than 13,000 of its citizens, including 4,500 military personnel, for opposing the invasion of Ukraine, according to analysis by independent Russian outlet Proekt.
Peshkin said it was legal for Petrova to import frog embryo samples, but she made an error with paperwork. Improperly importing the frog samples carries a fine of up to $500, but she was also denied re-entry to the U.S, he said.
Peshkin’s attorney Gregory Romanovsky told Fox News she wasn’t aware she needed to declare the sample at customs. He slammed federal authorities for improperly revoking her visa.
“She cannot return to Russia without being jailed or harmed,” Romanovsky told the Harvard Crimson. “It’s going to be a suicide for her to go back.”
President Donald Trump pledged to deport “millions” of immigrants when he took office. His administration’s crackdown has ensnared several other academics.
Also this week, immigration authorities detained Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student at the University of Alabama from Iran, his attorney, David Rozas, told ABC News.
The Department of Homeland Security said Doroudi’s student visa was revoked because he “posed significant national security concerns.”
