32-year-old Russian Ksenia Petrova, who was legally working at Harvard Medical School and actively spoke out against the war in Ukraine, was attempted to be deported from the US, detained, and sent to an immigration detention center.
Petrova was detained upon entering the US and had her visa annulled after undeclared frog embryo samples used in research were found in her luggage.
As Forbes writes, Petrova's mistake of not declaring biological samples is a common error in international research collaborations, usually leading to a warning or fine. Instead, Ksenia ended up in detention awaiting deportation. Petrova's defense emphasized that it was a mistake due to inexperience, not malicious intent. Nevertheless, the US government's reaction was disproportionately harsh.
Meanwhile, returning to Russia could mean a prison sentence for Petrova, as she was detained in 2022 during protests against the war in Ukraine and posted anti-war messages on social media.
The publication notes that Petrova's case is not isolated. During the second term of the Trump administration, there has been a troubling increase in the use of immigration services to persecute people whose political views are deemed inconvenient. Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and permanent US resident, was arrested and faces deportation after leading pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Another Columbia University student, Yunseo Chung, sued the Trump administration for attempting to deport her due to her participation in pro-Palestinian protests.
The attempt to deport Ksenia Petrova and others facing expulsion for their political beliefs highlights a disheartening trend of politicizing immigration enforcement.
The current trajectory of events resembles Operation "Keelhaul" — the forced repatriation of Soviet refugees by the US and UK after World War II, notes Forbes. In a misguided attempt to maintain allied relations, countless people were returned to the Stalinist regime, where they faced imprisonment or execution.
Photo: Ksenia Petrova's social media