Indian student Ranjani Srinivasan recently left the United States for Canada after her student visa was revoked by the Trump administration on allegations of being a ‘terrorist sympathizer’. In her first public remarks after leaving the country, Srinivasan revealed that she felt the atmosphere in the US was dangerous and made a quick decision to flee to Canada.
Srinivasan, a 37-year-old international student from India, was pursuing a PhD in urban planning at Columbia University. She previously obtained a master’s degree from Harvard on a Fullbright scholarship. Srinivasan expressed fear that even low-level political speech could lead to accusations of being a terrorist sympathizer, causing her to fear for her safety.
She first learned about the revocation of her visa in an email from the US Consulate in Chennai on March 5. The Department of Homeland Security accused her of supporting Hamas without providing any evidence, leading to the cancellation of her visa. Srinivasan’s legal team denied the allegations, calling them part of a crackdown on political speech. She was arrested on campus during a protest but the case was later dismissed.
After Srinivasan’s departure, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem shared surveillance footage of her fleeing, calling her a “terrorist sympathizer” and celebrating her self-deportation. Srinivasan’s case highlights concerns about the treatment of international students in the US and the impact of political speech on their legal status.
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