Harvard medical researcher detained by ICE, visa revoked over 'lying to federal officers' about importing 'biological substances': DHS

A Russian medical researcher at Harvard University is being detained at an Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) facility in Louisiana after federal authorities revoked her visa in February. Kseniia Petrova was attempting to return from Paris when federal authorities discovered undeclared frog embryo samples in her luggage. Petrova said she picked up the embryos in Paris to be brought back to Harvard and was allegedly unaware that she needed to claim them at customs, her attorney Gregory Romanovksy told NBC News.

She was apprehended at Boston Logan International Airport on February 16, where US authorities revoked her visa, her attorney said.

A DHS spokesperson told NBC News that Petrova was "lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying biological 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 spokesperson said. "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," the spokesperson said.

According to Romanovksy, CBP initially presented Petrova with two options: either return to France and reapply for a visa or be deported and prohibited from entering the United States for a period of five years. However, Petrova expressed fear of deportation back to her home country after she was arrested in Russia in 2022 for protesting President Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Her lawyer said if Petrova returned to Russia, she would "almost certainly" be jailed, citing concerns of political persecution.

Romanovksy also claimed that US authorities revoked her visa without following normal protocol, explaining that similar situations have resulted in CBP seizing the item(s) and issuing a fine. "As upset as I am with ICE, they are not at fault and just doing their job," he told Fox News.

Petrova has since been moved to the Richwood Detention Facility in Louisiana, awaiting an immigration hearing scheduled for May 7. Her lawyer claimed she has established "credible fear" and will ask to seek asylum. She worked as a bioinformatician at Harvard's Kirschner Lab.