A U.S. district judge in Vermont has ordered the release of Harvard University researcher Kseniia Petrova from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention in Louisiana after she had been held for 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,” Gregory Romanovsky, Petrova’s attorney, 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,” he added.
The Russian-born Petrova was detained at Boston Logan Airport in February and transferred to an ICE detention facility for allegedly failing to declare frog embryos she attempted to bring into the country for her research. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss instructed Jeffrey M. Hartman, the government’s attorney for Petrova’s case, to draft conditions for her release by May 30.
“This is kind of a circular process, because it was the government that revoked her visa,” Reiss said on Wednesday. “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.”
Petrova’s case drew national attention in the midst of the Trump administration’s very public feud with the esteemed university. In March, 17 U.S. senator’s sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd M. Lyons, demanding the release of Petrova.
She was arrested in Russia in 2022 after her involvement in protests against the country’s war in Ukraine, prompting fears her life would be in danger if she was made to return. “I am scared to go back to Russia,” she said, according to the letter. “I am afraid the Russian Federation will kill me for protesting against them.”
Petrova’s attorneys had argued her arrest was unlawful, and that the government had “no legal basis for canceling” her visa and detaining her. Reiss issued a declaratory judgement Wednesday that the CBP officers’ actions were illegal.
“There does not seem to be either a factual or legal basis for the immigration officer’s actions,” Reiss added.
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