An Indian student at Columbia University, Ranjani Srinivasan, has voluntarily left the United States after her student visa was revoked for supporting Hamas. The US Department of Homeland Security stated that, on March 5, her visa was canceled for "advocating violence and terrorism."
Authorities claim they have obtained video evidence through the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app showing Srinivasan self-deporting on March 11. Self-deportation is a term used to describe a period where an individual voluntarily leaves a country before being forcefully removed. A video of Srinivasan at the airport was shared by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, confirming that visa cancellation was due to "advocating violence and terrorism."
Since then, a PhD student in urban planning, Srinivasan, had previously studied at CEPT University in Ahmedabad, after which she earned a master's degree from Harvard under the Fulbright Nehru and Inlaks Scholarships. Srinivasan also had work experience with an environmental nonprofit in Washington and with MIT as well.
Columbia University has been a center of pro-Palestinian protests amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Most recently, they arrested Palestinian former student Mahmoud Khalil and revoked his green card, though his deportation has been temporarily put on hold.
Another Columbia student, Leqaa Kordia, was detained for overstaying her visa. The Justice Department and Homeland Security are investigating if Columbia University has been "harboring and concealing illegal aliens."
