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A federal judge ordered the release of Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard Medical School researcher who has been fighting deportation proceedings for nearly three months, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at a Wednesday bail hearing in Vermont.
The ruling marked a significant victory for Petrova, who was detained at Boston Logan Airport in February and transferred to an ICE detention facility for allegedly failing to declare frog embryos she attempted to bring into the country for her research. District Court Judge Christina Reiss said she found “clear and convincing evidence” that Petrova did not pose a security danger and was not at flight risk.
“We are gratified that today’s hearing gave us the opportunity to present clear and convincing evidence that Kseniia Petrova was not carrying anything dangerous or unlawful, and that customs officers at Logan International Airport had no legal authority to revoke her visa or detain her,” Gregory Romanovsky, Petrova’s lawyers, wrote in a statement.
But the order did not end Petrova’s legal battle to stay in the country. Two weeks ago, the government disrupted her regular immigration proceedings by filing criminal smuggling charges in Massachusetts. Petrova was subsequently transferred to criminal custody, and ICE filed an immigration detainer that would allow the agency to re-detain Petrova if she receives bail on the criminal charges.
Despite Wednesday’s ruling, Petrova will remain in criminal custody. And Reiss denied a request from Romanovsky to preemptively bar ICE from re-detaining her should she receive bail on the criminal charges.
The bail hearing for the criminal charges against Petrova has yet to be scheduled. But Romanovsky said at Wednesday’s hearing that he expected her to go before a judge in Massachusetts some time next week.
Reiss instructed Jeffrey M. Hartman, the government’s attorney for Petrova’s case, to draft conditions for her release by May 30.
Petrova’s case has sparked public outcry, prompting 17 U.S. senators and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell to call for her release. Her detention also comes as the Trump administration enforces a wider crackdown on immigration nationwide — and particularly for students at Harvard.
Romanovsky has repeatedly argued that Petrova’s arrest was unlawful, writing in a May 15 statement that the government had “no legal basis for cancelling” her visa and detaining her.
Reiss issued a declaratory judgement Wednesday that the CBP officers’ actions were, in fact, unlawful.
Michael D. West — an expert in molecular gerontology, Petrova’s field of expertise, and a prolific biotechnology entrepreneur who was brought as a witness by Romanovsky — testified Wednesday that the frog samples Petrova was bringing into the country were not hazardous or toxic.
Several of Petrova’s colleagues and friends also testified Wednesday, vouching for Petrova’s character and saying that she did not present a danger to the United States.
Petrova, who is currently being moved to Massachusetts for the bail hearing in her criminal case, also appeared in court on Wednesday via Zoom. Though she did not speak during the hearing, she appeared to crack a smile occasionally as her friends and colleagues defended her character.
—Staff writer William C. Mao can be reached at william.mao@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @williamcmao.
