Indian scholar leaves US after visa is revoked for allegedly supporting Hamas

Indian doctoral student Ranjani Srinivasan, whose visa was revoked for allegedly supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas, has “self-deported” from the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday.

Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, said that the Columbia University student, whose student visa was revoked for “advocating for violence and terrorism”, had voluntarily left the country using the CBP Home App, or the Customs and Border Protection Home mobile application.

The app allows undocumented immigrants or persons whose visa has expired or has been revoked to notify the US government of their intent to leave the country, “offering them the chance to leave before facing harsher consequences”.

Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, had gone to the US on a student visa as a doctoral student in urban planning at New York’s Columbia University.

The Department of Homeland Security alleged that Srinivasan was “involved in activities supporting Hamas”. The Palestinian militant group is designated as a terrorist organisation in the US.

The department did not provide details of the activities Srinivasan was allegedly involved in.

Srinivasan’s visa was revoked on March 5 by the Department of State, the homeland security department said in a statement, adding that it had “obtained video footage of her using the CBP Home App to self-deport on March 11”.

Srinivasan was awarded the Fulbright Nehru and Inlaks Scholarships to pursue a master’s degree in critical conservation at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and was an adjunct assistant professor of urban planning at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

The visa was revoked amid increased scrutiny of foreign students by the Donald Trump administration following pro-Palestine protests on college campuses in the US.

The homeland security department said on Friday that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement had arrested a Palestinian student, Leqaa Kordia, for overstaying her expired student visa.

On March 8, Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student of Palestinian origin, was arrested in the US. He had participated in pro-Palestine protests on campus last year. His green card was revoked.

A federal judge, however, stayed Khalil’s deportation.

A green card, officially known as a Permanent Resident Card, allows an individual to stay and work permanently in the US.

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