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Immigration experts said the Trump administration’s decision to press criminal smuggling charges against Harvard Medical School researcher Kseniia Petrova may be an attempt to pressure the Russian citizen to voluntarily leave the country.

Petrova was detained at Boston Logan Airport in February and moved to a Louisiana detention facility after she attempted to bring frog embryos into the country for research without disclosing them. Her case was moving through regular immigration proceedings when a federal judge in Vermont scheduled a bail hearing for May 28, setting a date for her potential release.

But two hours later, the government unsealed the criminal smuggling charges in Massachusetts against Petrova — throwing a wrench into the existing civil immigration case.

Her attorney, Gregory Romanovsky, wrote in a Thursday statement that the move “is an attempt by the government to justify its outrageous and legally indefensible position.”

Several legal experts told The Crimson that the government’s decision to bring criminal charges months into deportation proceedings was atypical. Ian Campbell, an immigration attorney, wrote in a statement that the move “seems very aggressive.”

“Prosecutors often start with charges that are more extreme than they expect the plea or conviction to end up as, but even still it seems aggressive to me compared to historical practice,” Campbell wrote.

Lenni B. Benson, an immigration expert at New York Law School, wrote that the move suggested the government was worried about the basis for canceling Petrova’s visa and detaining her in Louisiana.

Benson wrote that tacking on criminal charges bolsters existing deportation efforts, adding that “any criminal conduct can be a basis” for the government to argue an individual is violating their visa status.

Petrova was transferred to criminal custody after the charges were unsealed and is currently being moved to Massachusetts for her bail hearing, which will be scheduled within days after she arrives in the state. Jeff Joseph, an immigration lawyer in Denver, said he believed it was “highly likely” that Petrova would receive bail on the criminal charges.

But even if Petrova wins bail, she would likely be returned to ICE custody. The government has lodged an immigration detainer, a request from ICE that the prison holding Petrova give the agency 48 hours to re-detain her.

Several experts also said that the government may be attempting to encourage Petrova to deport herself voluntarily by bringing criminal charges.

Jacqueline Stevens, a law professor at Northwestern University who studies deportation proceedings, wrote that the criminal charges are a consistent technique used by ICE to “elicit the government’s preferred outcomes in civil proceedings.”

“In the case of Ms. Petrova, it seems ICE is counting on her desire to want to avoid the possibility of a criminal prison sentence by agreeing to be deported,” she wrote.

“The Trump administration is trying to use uncertainty and harsh conditions of detention to incentivize her to leave the country,” Stevens added. “However, since the alternative is the uncertainty and harsh conditions of the Russian legal system, it’s not clear that this will induce the effect the Trump administration seemingly desires.”

But Petrova’s personal history in Russia suggests she is not likely to self-deport. Shortly after she was detained, Petrova’s lawyer filed an asylum petition to remain in the United States. Romanovsky noted that his client has a “well-founded fear of future persecution” if she were deported back to Russia, where she was arrested in 2022 for protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Lawyers said that Petrova is likely to receive asylum given her previous arrest, protecting her from the federal government’s continued deportation efforts.

Joseph said Petrova could possibly argue for withholding of removal — another form of immigration relief that protects individuals with a high likelihood of being persecuted in their home countries.

“The relief that she will be seeking is asylum and withholding of removal, potentially even torture convention relief, if there’s an allegation that she could be tortured in Russia on the basis of this — which is not that far from the realm of possibilities,” Joseph said.

Petrova’s arrest and multi-front legal battle come as the Trump administration has aggressively pursued deportations across the country — a factor which experts say likely influences Petrova’s case.

“I would be unsurprised if the reason she’s facing felony charges for this conduct is informed by the Trump II immigration agenda,” Campbell wrote. “They have openly described it as encouraging noncitizens to ‘self-deport.’”

“Whether felony charges will realistically stick, they may hope they encourage her to leave voluntarily,” he added.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.