Ms. Petrova’s return flight from Paris landed in Boston on the evening of Feb. 16. As she texted with Dr. Peshkin, trying to confirm how she should handle the package in customs, the passengers were already filing off the plane. She cut short the conversation.
At first, her re-entry felt normal. At passport control, she showed her J-1 visa that Harvard had sponsored, and the officer stamped her passport, admitting her to the country.
However, as she headed toward the baggage claim, a Border Patrol officer approached her and asked to search her suitcase. She explained that she didn’t know the rules and thought the embryo samples inside would be ruined. The officer was polite, allowing her to leave.
A different officer then entered the room and changed the tone of the conversation. He asked Ms. Petrova about the samples, her work history, and her travel in Europe. He then canceled her visa and asked if she was afraid to be deported to Russia.
“I am scared to go back to Russia,” Ms. Petrova said. “I am afraid the Russian Federation will kill me for protesting against them.”
Her lawyer, Greg Romanovsky, said that Customs and Border Protection had overreached its authority by canceling her visa. He acknowledged that she had violated customs regulations but said it was a minor offense, punishable by forfeiture and a fine.
Lucas Guttentag, a professor at Stanford Law School, reviewed documents in the case and agreed. He said that Ms. Petrova had been legally admitted to the US, and then “the government itself created the alleged improper immigration status that is now the basis for her detention.”
Ms. Petrova was sent to the Richwood Detention Center and will present her case for asylum to an immigration judge. Her lawyer has also filed a petition for her release and pressed ICE to release her on parole.
If she loses, she will be deported to Russia.
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