Latest news with #Romanovsky
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Business Standard
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Russian researcher at Harvard University charged for smuggling frog embryos
A Russian researcher at Harvard Medical School who has been detained by US immigration authorities since February was charged with illegally smuggling frog embryos in her luggage on a plane flight. The arrest of Kseniia Petrova Wednesday on a federal criminal charge that carries up to 20 years in prison comes amid the Trump administration's broader immigration crackdown targeting international students and its intensifying standoff with Harvard, the oldest and richest US university. Petrova, 31, has been held in custody since mid-February, when customs agents detained her at Boston's Logan Airport on her return from France because she failed to declare biological material she brought into the US as part of her research. A former employee of the Institute of Genetic Biology in Moscow, Petrova has sued the Department of Homeland Security for revoking her visa. Her lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, said the new criminal charge is 'clearly intended to make Kseniia look like a criminal to justify their efforts to deport her.' The US government is aware that she has been persecuted in Russia 'for protesting against the Putin regime,' Romanovsky said. In 2022, she was arrested in Russia for protesting the war in Ukraine, according to the Harvard Crimson. Petrova allegedly said she was unaware of the requirement to declare biological material upon her arrival in the US, according to a statement from the US attorney's office in Boston. Authorities later recovered her text message exchanges with colleagues, including one in which she was questioned on how she would get through customs checks with samples, according to the statement. She allegedly replied: 'No plan yet. I won't be able to swallow them.' US District Judge Christina Reiss set a bail hearing for May 28 to determine whether Petrova should be released, Romanovsky said.
Malaysian Reserve
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Malaysian Reserve
Russian Harvard scientist faces criminal smuggling charge
A RUSSIAN researcher at Harvard Medical School who has been detained by US immigration authorities since February was charged with illegally smuggling frog embryos in her luggage on a plane flight. The arrest of Kseniia Petrova Wednesday on a federal criminal charge that carries up to 20 years in prison comes amid the Trump administration's broader immigration crackdown targeting international students and its intensifying standoff with Harvard, the oldest and richest US university. Petrova, 31, has been held in custody since mid-February, when customs agents detained her at Boston's Logan Airport on her return from France because she failed to declare biological material she brought into the US as part of her research. A former employee of the Institute of Genetic Biology in Moscow, Petrova has sued the Department of Homeland Security for revoking her visa. Her lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, said the new criminal charge is 'clearly intended to make Kseniia look like a criminal to justify their efforts to deport her.' The US government is aware that she has been persecuted in Russia 'for protesting against the Putin regime,' Romanovsky said. In 2022, she was arrested in Russia for protesting the war in Ukraine, according to the Harvard Crimson. Petrova allegedly said she was unaware of the requirement to declare biological material upon her arrival in the US, according to a statement from the US attorney's office in Boston. Authorities later recovered her text message exchanges with colleagues, including one in which she was questioned on how she would get through customs checks with samples, according to the statement. She allegedly replied: 'No plan yet. I won't be able to swallow them.' US District Judge Christina Reiss set a bail hearing for May 28 to determine whether Petrova should be released, Romanovsky said. Representatives of the Department of Homeland Security didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. –BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE Is Trying To Deport a Harvard Medical School Researcher Over Frog Embryos
This week, an immigration judge found the official document initiating the deportation of Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born Harvard Medical School researcher, failed to meet legal standards. Petrova has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) custody since February. She is challenging the cancellation of her J-1 scholar visa while seeking asylum due to the threat of persecution she faces in Russia. The judge asked the government to file additional information to support deportation, and a hearing to assess the validity of Petrova's deportation charge has been set for late July. Petrova was initially taken into ICE custody on February 16 at Boston Logan International Airport while returning from a work trip. She had flown to France to pick up frog embryo samples from a partner research lab for her research on cancer detection. Petrova did not declare the samples and was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Petrova "was lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country," including "petri dishes, containers of unknown substances, and loose vials of embryonic frog cells," according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In cases like these, CBP typically confiscates undeclared items and issues a fine of $50 to $500, Gregory Romanovsky, Petrova's attorney, told MSNBC. Instead, Petrova was taken into custody and her scholar visa was canceled. Romanovsky believes Petrova's arrest is "part of a broader effort to create an unwelcoming and hostile environment for noncitizens." He is representing Petrova in a lawsuit against DHS alleging that her visa cancellation and subsequent detention are unlawful. Although DHS accuses Petrova of "knowingly breaking the law and took deliberate steps to evade it" when she chose to "smuggle" research samples into the U.S., Romanovsky is pushing for her release. He told NBC News that she's a victim of a new, indiscriminate policy of refusing release, despite Petrova not being a flight risk or a risk to the community. Instead, "she's just taking up bed space." Petrova has also requested asylum for fear of persecution should she return to Russia. Before coming to the U.S., she was arrested for protesting against the war in Ukraine and now fears further persecution and jail time if she returns to Russia. But even if an immigration judge grants her asylum, the appeals process could keep her in continued detention. While Petrova sits in custody awaiting answers, researchers at Harvard Medical School's Kirschner Lab cannot continue with their cancer research without Petrova's expertise. The lab is currently developing a microscope, whose computer script was developed by Petrova, that could drastically improve early cancer detection, according to one of her co-workers. Petrova's case represents a growing trend causing many international students to fear immigration backlash. Under the Trump administration, over 1,800 international students have lost their F-1 or J-1 student statuses, according to a tracking database by Inside Higher Ed, with little explanation as to why. The post ICE Is Trying To Deport a Harvard Medical School Researcher Over Frog Embryos appeared first on
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Jailed scientist claims ICE is stopping her from curing cancer
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 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.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge questions deportation case of Harvard scientist accused of smuggling frog embryos
An immigration judge has found the U.S. government's initial deportation case against Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born Harvard scientist held in ICE detention, to be legally deficient, her attorney said, raising questions about whether the case can move forward. 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 to be 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 was a leading scientist at Harvard's renowned Kirschner Lab until she was arrested 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 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. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement X that 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 said 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 by 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, referring to Dr. Leon Peshkin, a principal research scientist at Harvard's Department of Systems Biology and her manager and mentor. 'And the next day, they didn't say what would happen. I was waiting in a cell.' This article was originally published on
