Atmosphere seemed so volatile, dangerous: Indian PhD candidate who 'self deported' from US
Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian student at Columbia University who opted to «self-deport» after her visa was revoked, has described the terrifying moment when federal immigration agents first knocked on the door of her varsity apartment. The immigration agents were searching for Srinivasan, 37, who had recently learned her student visa had been revoked. Srinivasan, an international PhD student from India, did not open the door when the three immigration agents knocked at it, the New York Times reported.
She was not home when the agents showed up again the next night. She packed a few belongings, left her cat behind with a friend and jumped on a flight to Canada at LaGuardia Airport, the report added.
When the agents returned a third time, this past Thursday night, and entered her apartment with a judicial warrant, she was gone.
«The atmosphere seemed so volatile and dangerous,» Srinivasan told The New York Times in an interview published on Friday, her first public remarks since leaving. «So I just made a quick decision.»
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The Department of State had revoked Srinivasan's visa on March 5. The Department of Homeland Security said it obtained video footage of Srinivasan using the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home App to self-deport on March 11.
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Her visa was revoked for allegedly «advocating for violence and terrorism» and involvement in activities supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas.
She entered the United States on a F-1