Jailed scientist claims ICE is stopping her from curing cancer

Daily Mail​

23-04-2025

A Russian-born computer scientist who had been developing a microscope to better detect cancer and potentially extend patients' lives continues to sit in an ICE detention center, where she has been for two months now.
Kseniia Petrova, 30, a researcher at Harvard Medical School's renowned Kirschner Lab, was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for failing to properly declare frog embryos at Boston Logan International Airport when returning from a trip to France on February 16.
She's now being held at ICE's Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana, and is fighting to not get deported back to Russia, a country she fled in 2022 after being jailed for protesting the Ukraine War.
'I would call it a grinding machine,' Petrova told NBC News from behind bars. 'We are in this machine, and it doesn't care if you have a visa, a green card, or any particular story. ... It just keeps going.'
The basis provided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for detaining Petrova and revoking her visa was that she hadn't properly declared the frog embryos she planned to take to her Massachusetts lab for research.
Her lawyer, Greg Romanovsky, previously told DailyMail.com that ICE overstepped its authority by revoking Petrova's J-1 scholar visa for an offense that typically only requires a fine of up to $500. He added that the fine is usually decreased to just $50 for first-time offenses.
An immigration judge Tuesday ruled that the government's initial case against Petrova was legally deficient, Romanovsky told NBC News.
ICE has now been given one week to file additional documentation bolstering their case for why Petrova should be deported.
A follow-up hearing has been scheduled for July 22 to determine whether the case against her can move forward at all. If during that hearing, the judge sides with the government, there will then have to be a final hearing on Petrova's asylum claim.
In Romanovsky's view, a resolution to these legal proceedings will almost certainly take months to come to fruition.
That's why he is fighting to secure her release, arguing she should not be in custody while her case remains in limbo.
'She shouldn't have to wait for the outcome of a prolonged legal process while sitting in detention in Louisiana,' he said.
According to a statement from Homeland Security on X, 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,' the statement continued.
'Messages found on her phone revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them. She knowingly broke the law and took deliberate steps to evade it.'
Petrova disputes this, saying that when CBP officers asked her if she had 'biological samples in her luggage,' she freely admitted that she did.
Before she was locked up, Petrova had been working on developing computer scripts that could better read images of cells off microscopes, with the goal of fending off the process of aging
Dr. Leon Peshkin, a principal research scientist at Harvard's Department of Systems Biology and Petrova's manager and mentor, said received a call from CBP on February 16 after agents detained Petrova at the airport with the frog embryos.
'We just got a call saying, "She's denied entry. That's all we can tell you to protect her privacy,"' Peshkin told NBC, adding that the person who called didn't reveal Petrova's whereabouts.
'Nobody knew what was happening to me. I didn't have any contact, not to my lawyer, not to Leon, not to anybody. And the next day, they didn't say what would happen. I was waiting in a cell,' Petrova said.
In an interview with the New York Times, Petrova said she's been in a dormitory with dozens of women. She said the detention center is freezing, and the detainees are only given a thin blanket. They sleep in rows of bunk beds and are only allowed one hour outside a day with sporadic meals.
'I thought this was impossible, to be in this situation,' Petrova said. 'Even immigrants here, they have to have some rights. But it seems that nobody really cares about our rights here.'
Peshkin said that based on what's happening to Petrova, he fears the Trump administration's aggressive posture on deportations will having a chilling effect on international scientists wanting to come to Harvard and other schools to do crucial research.
Before she was locked up, Petrova had been working on developing computer scripts that could better read images of cells off microscopes, with the goal of fending off the process of aging.
Petrova studies how genes are used in organisms and investigated the earliest stages of cell division. Her team observed the embryos in frogs because they were smaller and easier to handle than rodents.
An aquarium was constructed where pregnant female frogs bobbed in water, referred to by the team as the 'frog palace.'
They had previously shipped the embryos to the lab, but after shipments turned up damaged, Petrova's vacation in France offered the perfect opportunity for her to bring them back herself.
Petrova's colleagues and friends have described her as a dedicated scientist and a brilliant researcher.
She has a unique background with skills in computer science and biology, with knowledge of embryology, bioinformation and data science.
Her friends and colleagues at Harvard have set up a fundraiser for Petrova, calling her a 'caring and funny friend' and 'a genuinely beautiful person.'
They set up a GoFundMe to cover her legal fees, and daily expenses as Petrova may not be able to work if she is released. They have since raised more than $91,000 toward their initial $30,000 goal.
Petrova said that she feared political repression if she returned to Russia. Her home country has imposed severe punishment for those who speak out against the government.