Judges suspend Trump’s plans and block foreign students from attending Harvard
The judge ruled that the Trump administration could not block international students from attending Harvard University.
Scripps News
The Federal Jury in Boston has indicted Russian-born Harvard scientist Xenia Petrova, and is linked to attempting to smuggle a sample of a frog embryo and embryo into the United States.
Petrova, 31, was charged on June 25 by the Federal University Ju trial with one count of concealment of material facts, one false statement and one count of contraband to the United States, according to the Massachusetts Attorney’s Office. She was previously charged with smuggling in May.
The US Customs and Border Patrol cancelled its Petrova visa in February after not declaring a science sample when it returned to Boston from France. CBP agents then handed over to immigration and customs mandatory aimed at deporting her to Russia.
The researcher’s lawyers argue that CBP’s actions are “arbitrarily and whimsical” and that her detention is illegal. Petrova, who had been in custody for nearly four months before his release earlier this month, pleaded not guilty to smuggling charges and sued the Trump administration of mistakenly detaining her.
The two new charges came after Petrova’s lawyers urged federal judges to dismiss the first criminal charge last week, Reuters reported. Prosecutors secured the charges after Magistrate Judge Judith Daine ordered Petroba’s pre-trial release at a June 12 hearing in Boston.
If convicted of smuggling fees, Petrova will face a fine of up to $250,000 in prison for up to 20 years. She also faces fines of up to $250,000 for covering up to five years in prison for material facts and false statements.
Why is Ksiia Petrova there?
Petroba arrived at Boston’s Logan International Airport on February 16th on a flight from Paris, according to billing documents. She was then stopped by a CBP agent after being told that the law enforcement dog warned the duffel bag that was checked by the handler.
“For each protocol, this bag was removed from the carousel and brought into the agricultural secondary education testing area for further screening,” the U.S. Lawyer’s Office said in a news release. “There, officers allegedly inspected the contents of the bag and discovered an undeclared biological item containing a foam box containing frog embryos from microcentrifugal nails, a paraffin well stage and an embryo sample from mounted stained slides.”
Petrova, who works at Harvard Medical School, said her supervisor asked her to bring a sample of frog embryo from the Institute Curie in Paris for the experiment. However, prosecutors said the embryos constituted a biological material that would have been declared to the CBP at the port of arrival.
Prosecutors alleged that when she was approached by law enforcement, Petrova initially refused to carry biological material into her checked baggage, and was convinced that she would need to declare an embryo when she later entered the United States.
The request further stated that one of Petrova’s colleagues should text her, declare the biological material and ensure permission to retrieve the sample.
Court documents argue that Petrova’s lawyers did not think that the sample was necessary to declare it because it was not alive. In the past, similar violations may have led to fines, USA Today previously reported.
International students and researchers targeting federal immigrant crackdown
On May 28th, U.S. District Judge Christina Reese of Vermont discovered Petrova’s detention was illegal. Reiss had granted her release from ICE custody, but she remained in custody of the former US Bureau of S for criminal charges.
Petrova is one of several international students and researchers who have been caught up in the Trump administration’s expansion of immigration crackdown. Petrova’s supporters say the administration’s actions targeted international students and academics for visa revocation and detention.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed an affidavit in support of Petrova on May 12, saying the administration’s well-known detention of international students poses a threat to the country’s global leadership in the state’s economy and scientific innovation.
“The Trump administration’s actions targeting international students and academics send a horrifying message to talented students and academics around the world,” Campel wrote in his affidavit, adding that “at the whims of the federal government is at risk of detention, deportation and the end of educational background in the United States.”
Contributions: Eduardo Cuevas and Lauren Villagran, USA Today; Reuters
