Kamal Ghorui
A United States District Court has recently ruled that the visa of Russian-born Harvard University researcher Kseniia Petrova was unlawfully cancelled by Customs and Border Protection at Boston Logan International Airport.Judge Christina Reiss said the agency exceeded its authority and held that visa cancellations cannot be based on suspected smuggling of biological samples.“The undisputed facts reveal that Ms. Petrova’s visa was impermissibly canceled because of the frog embryo samples and for no other reason,” Reiss wrote, the Associated Press reports.
What happened at the airport
Petrova was stopped in February last year while returning from France, where she had collected frog embryo samples for research.She was questioned by Customs and Border Protection officers at the airport about the samples. Following the questioning, officers cancelled her visa.Petrova later said she did not realise the samples needed to be declared and denied attempting to bring them into the country unlawfully.
What the court said
The court found that Customs and Border Protection had limited authority in visa matters and could not revoke a visa on the basis of a customs-related issue.The judge ruled that the agency had overstepped its jurisdiction and used the customs issue as grounds for visa cancellation.“The Federal Respondents cannot justify an unlawful visa cancellation for a customs violation by relying on what transpired after the visa cancellation took place,” Reiss wrote, according to The Crimson.The judge also said that the authorities did not allow Petrova to return to France and instead pursued deportation.
Detention and legal proceedings
After the visa cancellation, Petrova was detained and later transferred to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana.She challenged the decision through legal petitions. Federal prosecutors later charged her with smuggling and making false statements. A grand jury indicted her on one count of smuggling and two counts of making false statements.She remained in custody until mid-June, when a judge ordered her release.In a separate proceeding, she was granted permission to work and has since returned to her research at Harvard, her attorney Gregory Romanovsky said.“This ruling is an important step toward correcting what should never have happened in the first place,” Romanovsky said in a statement, according to AP.
Government response
A spokesperson for the USs Department of Homeland Security said Petrova was “lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.”The department said the administration of Donald Trump was committed to enforcing immigration laws.The ruling states that Customs and Border Protection cannot cancel visas on grounds outside its authority and that such actions must follow legal limits.Petrova’s case continues in court for now.
