Latest news with #Petrova
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Judge orders release of Harvard scientist from ICE detention
A judge has ordered Harvard University researcher Kseniia Petrova to be released from custody after she was detained for allegedly smuggling frog embryos into the country. 'We are gratified that today's hearing gave us the opportunity to present clear and convincing evidence that Kseniia Petrova was not carrying anything dangerous or unlawful, and that customs officers at Logan International Airport had no legal authority to revoke her visa or detain her,' said Gregory Romanovsky, Petrova's attorney. 'At today's hearing, we demonstrated that Kseniia is neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk, and does not belong in immigration detention,' he added. The Russian-born scientist has so far been held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention in Louisiana for three months, and her J-1 nonimmigrant visa was revoked. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss found Petrova is not a flight risk nor a danger to the community and set a criminal bail hearing for next week. Reiss raised concerns over the legality of the revocation of Petrova's visa and whether she was held for too long without court review, NBC News reported. Petrova still faces federal smuggling charges and will not be released from the custody of U.S. marshals unless a judge also rules in that case for her bail. Petrova's team at Harvard does cancer research, and her attorney has argued she did not need a permit for the materials she brought into the country. The Hill has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment. The decision is the latest in a series of wins for foreign students and faculty who have been detained by the Trump administration. It also comes at a time when the Trump administration is looking to hamper Harvard by cutting its funding, taking away the university's ability to admit foreign students, and threatening to cap foreign student enrollment at 15 percent, when Harvard's student body is currently 27 percent international students. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Judge: Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos was unlawfully detained by ICE
A federal judge in Vermont on Wednesday released a Russian-born scientist and Harvard University researcher from immigration custody as she deals with a criminal charge of smuggling frog embryos into the United States. Colleagues and academics also testified on Kseniia Petrova's behalf, saying she is doing valuable research to advance cures for cancer. 'It is excellent science,' Michael West, a scientist and entrepreneur in the biotech industry, testified on Petrova's research papers. He said he does not know Petrova, but has become acquainted with her published work, citing one in which she explains that 'by mapping embryonic development, novel ways of intervening in the biology of regeneration and aging.' West said that Petrova's medical research skills are highly sought after and that he himself would hire her 'in a heartbeat.' Petrova, 30, is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in Louisiana. She is expected to be brought to Massachusetts as early as Friday in preparation for a bail hearing next week on the smuggling charge, lawyers said in court. 'We are gratified that today's hearing gave us the opportunity to present clear and convincing evidence that Kseniia Petrova was not carrying anything dangerous or unlawful, and that customs officers at Logan International Airport had no legal authority to revoke her visa or detain her," Petrova's lawyer Gregory Romanovsky said in a statement. "At today's hearing, we demonstrated that Kseniia is neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk, and does not belong in immigration detention.' Petrova had been vacationing in France, where she stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples to be used for research. As she passed through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint in Boston Logan International Airport in February, Petrova was questioned about the samples. She told The Associated Press in an interview last month that she did not realize the items needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak anything into the country. After an interrogation, Petrova was told her visa was being canceled. After being detained by immigration officials, she filed a petition in Vermont seeking her release. She was briefly detained in Vermont before she was brought to Louisiana. Petrova was charged with smuggling earlier this month as U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss in Burlington set the hearing date on her petition. Reiss ruled Wednesday that the immigration officers' actions were unlawful, that Petrova didn't present a danger, and that the embryos were non-living, non-hazardous and 'posed a threat to no one.' Petrova's lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, had asked Reiss to issue an order to stop the possibility of ICE re-detaining her if she is also released from detention in Massachusetts. Reiss said she was reluctant "to enjoin an executive agency from undertaking future actions which are uncertain' and would rely on U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Hartman's comments that the government has no intention at this time to re-arrest Petrova. The Department of Homeland Security had said in a statement on the social media platform X that Petrova was detained after 'lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.' They allege that messages on her phone 'revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Judge Rips Government for Acting Illegally in Harvard Scientist Case
A Harvard University scientist detained by immigration authorities for over three months was granted bail by a federal judge Wednesday in a rebuke to the Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss ruled that Kseniia Petrova's detention and the revocation of her J-1 visa for failing to declare frog embryos at Boston's Logan Airport in February should not have happened, and raised serious legal concerns. 'There does not seem to be either a factual or legal basis for the immigration officer's actions,' Reiss said in her ruling, adding that the samples Petrova brought into the U.S. were 'wholly non-hazardous, non-toxic, non-living, and posed a threat to no one.' 'Ms. Petrova's life and well-being are in peril if she is deported to Russia,' Reiss added, which the Trump administration has said it plans to do. Petrova has said that she fears returning to the country due to her protests against the war in Ukraine. Over three months ago, Petrova arrived back in the U.S. from a vacation in France with frog embryo samples, which she agreed to bring from a laboratory affiliated with her own at the request of her supervisor at Harvard Medical School. When her bags were inspected at the airport, a customs official immediately canceled her visa and began deportation proceedings. '[W]hat happened in this case was extraordinary and novel,' Reiss said. If she did not take action in Petrova's case, Reiss said that 'there will be no determination' if Petrova's constitutional rights were violated. Petrova was recruited from Russia in 2023 to work at Harvard's Kirschner Lab, studying the earliest stages of cell development as part of the lab's work to find ways to repair cell damage that leads to diseases such as cancer. She has admitted to failing to declare the embryo samples, and her lawyer says that this would normally be punished with a minor fine. Petrova still may not be released, as she also faces felony charges in Massachusetts for allegedly smuggling the embryos into the U.S., and is currently in federal custody in Louisiana. For now, though, Reiss's ruling is another rebuke to an administration that is trying to fast-track mass deportations of immigrants while ignoring the law.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge takes step toward possible release of detained Russian Harvard scientist accused of smuggling
A federal judge in Vermont ruled in favor of a Russian Harvard scientist who was detained by ICE and accused of smuggling goods into the U.S. on Wednesday. Kseniia Petrova, 31, was first detained by ICE before being transferred to criminal custody earlier this month. Wednesday's ruling ensures that if she is granted bail and released at her criminal hearing next week, ICE cannot detain her once again. President Donald Trump's administration is seeking to deport Petrova back to Russia following her detention at Boston's Logan Airport in February. She has worked as a researcher at Harvard Medical School for more than two years, and colleagues at the school testified in her defense at Wednesday's hearing. Authorities charged Petrova with smuggling biological material after TSA at the airport allegedly found clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples in her luggage. Russian Scientist At Harvard Medical School Detained By Ice At Boston Airport The judge determined on Wednesday that Petrova is not a flight risk and does not pose any danger to the community. Her criminal bail hearing is set to take place next week in Massachusetts. Read On The Fox News App The judge also noted that Petrova's work at Harvard has benefited the U.S., as her team is focused on cancer research. The U.S. Attorney's Office said that Petrova allegedly denied having the biological material at first but later admitted to carrying it. Prosecutors also claim that Petrova's text messages show that she was aware that she needed a permit to bring in the clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples that were allegedly found in her luggage. In one text message exchange cited by the office, Petrova was asked whether she had a plan to get the biological material into the U.S., and she allegedly responded by saying, "No plan yet. I won't be able to swallow them." Gregory Romanovsky, the attorney representing Petrova, argues that customs experts confirmed that his client "did not need a permit to bring her non-living scientific samples that are not considered biological material under U.S. Customs law." Petrova said in a recent New York Times op-ed that she was returning to the U.S. after vacationing in Paris when she was detained by ICE in February. She also expressed her fear of being arrested in Russia if deported, as she has been a critic of the war in Ukraine. While she admitted in the op-ed to not filling out a customs form regarding the frog embryos in her luggage, she believed it would result in a fine or warning, not an arrest. "At Logan International Airport, I did not complete a customs declaration for frog embryos (for use in our lab's research) in my luggage. I'm told this would normally result in a warning or a fine. Instead, my visa was revoked, and I was sent to a detention center in Louisiana," Petrova wrote. Fox News' Rachel Wolf contributed to this article source: Judge takes step toward possible release of detained Russian Harvard scientist accused of smuggling
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova is granted bail but remains in custody on a smuggling charge
A federal judge on Wednesday granted bail to Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova, who has spent more than three months in custody after failing to declare frog embryos upon arriving in the United States. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss in Vermont said Petrova's continued detention by immigration authorities was unjustified and raised serious legal concerns about the government's actions. While the decision represents a significant development in the case, it will not result in her imminent release. The government has until Friday to propose terms of her release, according to the ruling. Petrova also faces a federal smuggling charge in Massachusetts, where she was stopped at Boston Logan International Airport on her way back from Paris. She remains in U.S. marshals' custody and cannot be freed unless the District of Massachusetts also authorizes her release in the criminal case. In granting Petrova's release from immigration detention, Reiss questioned whether immigration officers had the authority to revoke Petrova's visa over a customs issue and said Petrova had been held too long without court review. The judge found that Petrova posed no danger and that any flight risk could be managed with conditions proposed by the government. Petrova's attorney said he would update the court after hearing from the marshals, but no bail hearing date was discussed during Wednesday's proceeding. The Russian-born scientist was stopped at Logan airport in February with undeclared frog embryo samples. Her J-1 visa was revoked, triggering removal proceedings. She was later criminally charged and transferred from ICE to federal custody. Her attorneys argue the visa cancellation was unlawful. 'The Immigration and Nationality Act does not contain a provision that makes one inadmissible for committing a customs violation,' said Gregory Romanovsky, Petrova's attorney. He called the government's actions a product of "unlawful conduct by CBP' and said her repeated requests for parole were denied without proper justification. Reiss said Petrova could update her petition to reflect the new criminal charge and changes in her case. She expressed concern that the way the government handled Petrova's case may have left her without a fair chance to challenge what was happening to her. 'It was the government that revoked her visa,' Reiss said. 'And it's essentially saying, 'We revoked your visa, now you have no documentation, and now we're going to place you in removal proceedings.'' The court heard from multiple witnesses who talked about Petrova's scientific contributions and personal character. Dr. Michael West, a pioneer in regenerative medicine, testified that the frog samples were chemically treated, inert and nonhazardous. He said they posed 'no threat to anybody' and had 'no commercial value.' West told the court he had verified the preparation method with collaborators in France. Colleagues from Harvard described Petrova as kind, conscientious and devoted to her work. 'She is abundantly kind,' said Cora Anderson, a research assistant who worked closely with Petrova. Marc Kirschner, a professor who leads the lab where Petrova works, said she played a critical role in developing computational tools for microscopy. Government lawyers said that officials do not currently intend to rearrest Petrova if she is released from federal custody, and the judge said she would rely on them to hold themselves to that. Petrova's attorney warned that DHS may move quickly to re-detain her under an immigration hold. Reiss emphasized the need for judicial oversight. As the hearing concluded, Reiss said the case regarding her immigration detention would remain in Vermont. Both sides are expected to continue debating the legal questions surrounding her detention, even as the terms of her release are finalized and criminal proceedings unfold in Massachusetts. This article was originally published on
