5 hours ago
Last Updated:March 16, 2025, 16:46 IST
Ranjani Srinivasan, a Columbia University student from India, self-deported from the US after her visa was revoked over pro-Palestine protests. She described the experience as a "dystopian nightmare".
Ranjani Srinivasan self-deported after her visa was revoked by the Trump administration for supporting pro-Palestine protests. (X/Reuters)
Ranjani Srinivasan, a student from India at Columbia University who had to self-deport after her visa was revoked over pro-Palestine protests, recalled her “dystopian nightmare" in her first remarks.
Srinivasan, 37, who used the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) Home app to self-deport from the United States, shared that she found the atmosphere dangerous and feared “even the most low-level political speech could turn into this dystopian nightmare".
“I’m fearful that even the most low-level political speech or just doing what we all do — like shout into the abyss that is social media — can turn into this dystopian nightmare where somebody is calling you a terrorist sympathizer and making you, literally, fear for your life and your safety," Srinivasan, who was pursuing a PhD in urban planning at Columbia, said in an interview with New York Times.
Divulging reasons for her quick departure, said, “The atmosphere seemed so volatile and dangerous, so I just made a quick decision."
The US Department of State confirmed that she self-deported on March 11, 2025, using the CBP Home App, and video footage of the process has been obtained. Ranjani Srinivasan was accused of supporting Hamas as a wave of pro-Palestinian protests swept Columbia University and other US campuses last year during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Why Ranjani Srinivasan Had To Self-Deport
Srinivasan, a Fulbright scholar, found herself swept up in President Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators using federal immigration powers. She is among a small group of non-citizens recently targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Columbia University.
Srinivasan expressed confusion over the State Department’s sudden revocation of her student visa, which led Columbia to rescind her enrollment.
Homeland Security officials explained that when Srinivasan renewed her visa last year, she failed to disclose two court summonses related to protests on Columbia’s campus. However, they did not clarify how these summonses made her appear as a supporter of terrorism.
Srinivasan’s History
Srinivasan’s current predicament dates back to last year when she was arrested near Columbia’s campus the same day pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied Hamilton Hall. She maintains she was not involved in the occupation but had been walking back to her apartment after a picnic with friends, navigating through the crowds and barricades on West 116th Street when police pushed her and arrested her.
She was briefly detained and issued two summonses: one for obstructing traffic and another for failing to disperse. Her case was dismissed promptly, with no criminal record resulting, according to her lawyers and court documents. She also stated that she faced no disciplinary actions from the university and remained in good academic standing.
“She was arrested along with roughly 100 others after being blocked from returning to her apartment and getting caught in the street," said Nathan Yaffe, one of her attorneys. “The court recognized this when it dismissed her case, ruling it had no merit. Ranjani was simply trying to walk home."
Srinivasan explained that she didn’t report the summonses on her visa renewal form later that year because her case had been dismissed in May and she had no conviction. “Since I hadn’t been convicted, I marked it as ‘no,’" she said. “Maybe that was my mistake. I would have disclosed it, but the way the questions were framed made it feel like they were assuming a conviction."
Location : First Published:March 16, 2025, 16:30 IST
News world ‘Dangerous Atmosphere’: Indian Student Who Fled US Shares 'Dystopian Nightmare' In First Remarks
