Harvard Medical School researcher Kseniia Petrova, on a J-1 visa, was arrested by CBP and transferred to an ICE detention center in Louisiana. The grounds are that this was due to an undeclared item at the airport, which her research adviser had requested, and for which, at most, a $500 fine is appropriate, as her lawyer has stated. She remains imprisoned, amounting to a violation of her habeas corpus rights and a violation of her human rights.
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April 2, 2025
The Honorable Marco Rubio
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Mr. Secretary,
The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.
We are writing in regard to Kseniia Petrova, a Russian medical researcher at Harvard University on a J-1 visa. Upon returning from France on February 16th, Ms. Petrova was detained on grounds of not having declared scientific samples that her adviser at Harvard Medical School, Leonid Peshkin, requested. She was arrested and detained in Vermont after which she was transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center. It is our understanding that Ms. Petrova is here legally and that her visa was revoked on the grounds that she had simply not declared an item, which, according to her lawyer, should only amount to a $500 fine.
Thus far, we are not aware of any charges that have been brought forth, and she is at risk of being deported. In 2022, she protested Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after which she fled Russia. Therefore, if deported, she will most certainly be persecuted in Russia.
The Committee is concerned that her detainment amounts to unequal treatment before the law. It appears that the law is being applied differently to Ms. Petrova based on her status as an immigrant.
The right of Habeas Corpus, in Article 1 Section 9 Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, requires that a prisoner or detainee be brought before a court to determine if the person’s imprisonment or detention is lawful. We are not aware of Ms. Petrova’s right to due process being fulfilled.
In addition, equality of all people before the law is protected by Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the U.S. is a State Party, as well as Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We write to urge you to release Ms. Petrova forthwith. Should serious evidence of unlawful behavior on her part arise, she should be tried under the same conditions as any U.S. citizen and afforded the same legal rights and protections.
Thank you for your attention to this serious matter. We will be closely following developments in this case.
Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
CC:
The Honorable
Kristi Noem
Secretary of Homeland Security
Washington DC, 20528