Judge questions deportation case of Russian-born Harvard scientist detained by ICE
The preliminary immigration hearing, held in Jena, Louisiana, included three trial attorneys and a deputy chief counsel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Petrova's attorney Greg Romanovsky described their presence as unusual for an early-stage proceeding.
'In my 25 years of practice, I've never seen anything like it,' he said.
The judge determined that the Notice to Appear — the official document initiating deportation proceedings — did not meet legal standards, Romanovsky said. ICE has been given one week to file additional documentation to support its charge that Petrova is deportable. A follow-up hearing has been scheduled for July 22 to determine whether the case can proceed.
If the judge rules that the deportability charge is valid, a final hearing on Petrova's asylum application will be scheduled. Until then, a resolution in the case is likely months away, Romanovsky said.
Petrova, 30, remains in ICE custody at Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana, where she has been held for about two months. She worked as a leading scientist at Harvard's renowned Kirschner Lab until her arrest at a Boston airport in mid-February. She is fighting possible deportation to Russia, where she said she fears persecution and jail time over her protests against the war in Ukraine.
Her lawyer is now focused on securing her release, arguing that she should not remain in detention while her case remains in procedural uncertainty.
The push for her release centers on a separate federal case Petrova's attorney has filed in the U.S. District Court in Vermont, where she is suing the Department of Homeland Security over what she alleges was an unlawful visa cancellation and her subsequent detention. A hearing in that case is scheduled for May 14 in Burlington, Vermont.
'She shouldn't have to wait for the outcome of a prolonged legal process while sitting in detention in Louisiana,' Romanovsky said.
The outcome of the Vermont federal hearing could significantly affect Petrova's detention status ahead of the July immigration court hearing in Louisiana.
In a statement posted on X, the Department of Homeland Security said Petrova was 'lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.'
'A subsequent K9 inspection uncovered undeclared petri dishes, containers of unknown substances, and loose vials of embryonic frog cells, all without proper permits,' DHS stated in the post. 'Messages found on her phone revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them.'
Petrova described the incident differently.
'They asked if I have any biological samples in my luggage. I said yes,' she previously told NBC News from detention in Louisiana. She described confusion over the customs procedures and a lengthy interrogation from Customs and Border Protection Officers.
'Nobody knew what was happening to me. I didn't have any contact, not to my lawyer, not to Leon, not to anybody,' she said. 'And the next day, they didn't say what would happen. I was waiting in a cell.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Rhyl Journal
2 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Putin ‘rewarded' for Ukraine invasion with Trump summit, experts warn
The summit, which took place at a military base in Anchorage in the US's northernmost state, was aimed at kick-starting a peace process to end the war in Ukraine. Very little appears to have been materially resolved as a result of the meeting. Mr Trump has insisted 'some great progress' was made, with 'many points' agreed and 'very few' remaining. Sir Keir Starmer, meanwhile, commended the US president's efforts to make peace, and said Mr Trump had 'brought us closer than ever before' to an end to the war in Ukraine. Leading foreign affairs and military experts have however claimed the summit's main effect has been to lend legitimacy to Mr Putin, who has been considered a pariah by many world leaders since the invasion began in 2022. Orysia Lutsevych, deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia programme and head of the Ukraine forum at the Chatham House think tank, said: 'After six bilateral Trump-Putin phone calls, five trips of Trump's envoy (Steve) Witkoff to Moscow, the Alaska summit, watched globally with so much anticipation and anxiety, failed to produce any tangible outcome to stop Russian aggression against Ukraine. 'Russia has received a reward for its invasion. 'Trump called Russia a 'great country' and said there is strong mutual understanding between the two parties. 'This represents a further fissure in the already shaky Transatlantic alliance, the rupture of which is a primary Russian aim. 'The Alaska summit represents another step towards this goal.' Keir Giles, an associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House, meanwhile suggested there were 'two dangers' which could emerge from the summit. The first is that Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky may now be perceived by Mr Trump as a 'softer target where he is more willing to exert leverage', and that the US president could 'once again try to strongarm Zelensky into compromising the future of his country'. The second danger is that European leaders 'might once again think the immediate danger has passed' and become complacent, after their scramble to speak to Mr Trump ahead of the summit. Dr Neil Melvin, director of international security at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) meanwhile suggested Mr Putin would walk away considering the summit a success. Dr Melvin said: 'Vladimir Putin came to the Alaska summit with the principal goal of stalling any pressure on Russia to end the war. 'He will consider the summit outcome as mission accomplished.' He added: 'Russia's war aims have not changed since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 'At the summit, Putin was clear that he wants to address first what he calls the root causes of the war. 'The Kremlin identifies these as Nato enlargement, the emergence of governments in Ukraine resistant to Russian integration projects, and challenges to Russian claims about territory and ethnic Russians in Ukraine. 'This is Russia's precondition and underpins Putin's demand for a 'comprehensive peace deal'. 'This agenda would lead to the subjugation of Ukraine. 'Putin made no concessions at the summit. 'Moreover, he succeeded in presenting himself as a legitimate equal to the US president. 'He will also consider it a victory that he was able to marginalise Zelensky and European leaders from the central discussion about the future of European security.' Elsewhere, party political leaders in the UK warned against lending Mr Putin legitimacy. Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader said: 'It's clear Putin doesn't want peace. 'Trump's attempt to sweet talk him into a deal has failed, so it's time for Trump to finally get tough. 'The UK should seize Russian assets to help Ukraine today, and press the US to do the same.' Green Party MP Ellie Chowns meanwhile said the world was 'left where we started' by the summit, adding: 'A brutal war caused by Russia's aggression and no real solution in sight. 'Any lasting peace plan without Ukraine's full participation and consent will fail. 'When you compare how Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin to his publicly humiliating Zelensky, it's clear that the only winner from these talks is Putin. 'He was handed the credibility of a seat at the top table while his forces continue their attacks on Ukraine.'
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Putin's dark childhood from mother's eye gouged out to being chased by rats
Vladimir Putin has become one of the most powerful men in the world, but his childhood was marked by tragedy and violence in Leningrad, now known as St. Petersburg The world has been watching President Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin with baited breath - and whilst the US leader is determined to forge a reputation as a peacemaker, it is yet to be seen how much success can be found in his Alaska summit with the President of the Russian Federation, with no deal being reached. Putin might now hold a formidable reputation, but he undoubtedly has come a long way since the early years of his childhood, which were mired by poverty and violence in Leningrad - now called St. Petersburg. Some experts have gone so far as to claim the Russian President's unrelenting attitude to his invasion of Ukraine can be traced back to these early experiences. The Mirror looks back at his childhood as Putin warns of nuclear war after unleashing another night of hell on Ukraine. Putin was born on 7 October 1952, seven years after the Second World War ended, in St. Petersburg, then known as Leningrad. His parents, Vladimir and Maria, had previously had two sons before he was born, both of whom had died. Putin is reported to be notoriously reticent about mentioning his deceased siblings, and only the name of one is known: Viktor. The other sibling is said to have died whilst an infant, but Viktor's death during the 872-day German siege on Leningrad is reported to have occurred in "terrible circumstances" - per Psychology Today. Aged just one year old, Maria, who was "near death" due to starvation caused by the siege, put Viktor into a children's home, hoping that he would be protected there. Heartbreakingly, he was no safer in the home in reality, and he died from diphtheria and was buried in an unmarked mass grave - one that Putin is said to visit during official commemorations of the long siege. By the time Putin was even born, his life was marked by tragedy, and not just that of the death of his elder brothers. Before his parents even married, a terrifying attack from Vladimir Senior against Maria is claimed to have been the start of their relationship, due to the "disgrace" he brought upon her with his violence. An explosive book, The Tsar in Person: How Vladimir Putin Fooled Us All, about the Russian President's life, claimed that in a "fit of rage" his father gouged out his mother's eye with a pitchfork. The book alleges that Putin's father went with male friends to Maria's home - who was known as Marusya - when she was there by herself in 1928, according to someone who lived in the village in the Tver region. The young woman refused to let them in, causing Vladimir Senior to become enraged. "They took the pitchfork that was standing by the fence and started breaking down the gate. She got scared, ran out of the house, and raced up to the fence. "And Volodka [Vladimir senior, Putin's father] at that moment broke through the gate with the pitchfork and hit Marusya right in the face. "In short, he accidentally gouged out her eye. He took her to the hospital right away. There, Marusya's eye was removed." This was seen as a "disgrace" so Maria's mother "threatened Volodka: if you don't marry, I'll put you on trial. So they got married. Marusya was very embarrassed about her glass eye later, never looked you in the face when talking, and tilted her head to the side." The villager added that Putin's father was notorious for abusing and terrorising local girls, "He liked to lift up girls' skirts and tie them in a knot over their heads," so that he and other local men could see their underwear. Putin totally denies that this interpretation of his parents' characters, but he has admitted that he had a tough childhood in some respects. In his memoir, Putin described the vermin-ridded neighbourhood he grew up in, and wrote about a time he had an encounter with a rat. "It had nowhere to run,' Putin said. "Suddenly it lashed around and threw itself at me… Luckily, I was a little faster and I managed to slam the door shut in its nose.' Some have argued that experiences like this one, along with the fact that he was scrawny, small and often bullied and attacked in his area as a child, have influenced his attitude that there can be no backing down from a fight. His close pal from his schooldays is reported to have said about him, "He could get into a fight with anyone… He had no fear… If some hulking guy offended him, he would jump straight at him – scratch him, bite him, pull out clumps of his hair." At home his parents are said to have doted on him wildly, but outside of the house, this certainly was not the case, "As he himself admits, it was then, in neighbourhood brawls, that he learned lessons that he has followed ever since – to take on any and all adversaries, never to retreat, and to fight to the finish," reports The Week.
Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Trump-Putin latest: Vlad's peace demands revealed after summit as he tells Don he will ask for Ukrainian land
Scroll down to read our live coverage on the fallout from the crunch meeting LAND GRAB Trump-Putin latest: Vlad's peace demands revealed after summit as he tells Don he will ask for Ukrainian land Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) VLADIMIR Putin told Trump he wants the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of their peace deal, it has been revealed. It comes just hours after the pair met in Alaska to discuss terms to end the bloody war. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Putin has demanded full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions 7 Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shake hands after holding a peace summit in Alaska Credit: Reuters 7 Volodymyr Zelensky will speak to Trump in Washington on Monday Credit: Telegram 7 Vladimir Putin jetted off back to Moscow flagged by US F-22 fighter jets Credit: AFP In exchange for the Donetsk region, the Russian leader said he would halt further military advances in southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Mad Vlad also vowed to halt any new attacks if he is handed Donetsk. Moscow currently controls over 70 per cent of the highly-contested region - but capturing it entirely could allow Putin's forces to cause major disruption to supply lines on the eastern front. Speaking to top officials in Moscow a day after his talks with Trump, Putin said he and his US counterpart had discussed ways of ending the conflict in Ukraine "on a fair basis". He added the summit with Trump had been "timely" and "very useful", according to images published by the Kremlin. Sources close to Volodymyr Zelensky suggest the Ukrainian leader would not agree to the demands but that he would be open to negotiating land with Trump in his upcoming visit to Washington on Monday. The US President has previously said Russia and Ukraine both believe a full peace deal is "the best way" to end the war - rather than a short term ceasefire. Now diplomatic sources have revealed some of the initial details of the potential agreement, according to news agency AFP. The US has reportedly proposed an agreement that would see Ukraine not join Nato - but instead be offered Nato-esque protections similar to Article 5. Trump reportedly floated the plan with Zelensky and European leaders during a call after his meeting with Putin. The source said: "As one of the security guarantees for Ukraine, the American side proposed a non-NATO Article 5 type guarantee, supposedly agreed with Putin." Another insider with knowledge of the matter confirmed the NATO-like guarantees had been discussed. It is unclear what Ukraine would have to give up to secure such a deal. Kyiv has long aspired to join Nato - something fiercely opposed by Russia and cited by one of the reasons for their invasion in 2022. 7 Trump waves after stepping off Air Force One following phone calls with Volodymyr Zelensky and Nato leaders Credit: AFP 7 Ukrainian territorial defence soldiers fire an artillery gun Credit: Getty 7 The ruins of destroyed buildings are seen in the city of Chasiv Yar at dawn Credit: Getty But Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine joining the Western military alliance. Don hailed his talks with Putin as "great and very successful" as he detailed the next steps in securing peace in Ukraine. The US delegation left Alaska in Air Force One after a busy day and landed back in Washington shortly after 7am local time. Trump held a lengthy phone call with Zelensky during the flight and invited the Ukrainian President to Washington in just 48 hours time. Nato leaders were also updated on the summit in a separate call with Trump. The US President revealed on Truth Social that he informed the European side and Zelensky of Putin's main wish for a complete end to the war instead of a ceasefire. Read our live blog for the latest on the Trump and Putin peace talks...
