Kseniia Petrova, a 30-year-old Russian-born scientist, is experiencing extreme hurdles after being arrested at a Boston airport in mid-February. Petrova, a researcher in Harvard’s world famous Kirschner Lab, has been in jail for two months. This resulted in her being arrested for not declaring frog embryos that were destined for scientific research. Her plight illustrates the intricacies of the current immigration policy debate and its damaging implications for scientific research.
On February 15, Petrova returned to Logan International Airport and was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. She admitted to having biological samples in her baggage, and among those samples were the frog embryos that were essential to her research. The embryos were central to her groundbreaking research. She utilized a multi-spectral microscope, the capability to analyze 100,000 images a minute, which helped her scientific research in multiple disciplines by expanding knowledge.
It’s what CBP protocols call for, and it’s how the agency responds to customs violations such as Petrova’s. They frequently impose criminal penalties on offenders, including the forfeiture of property and the imposition of fines. And for first-time offenders, like Petrova, the average fine is only $50. The consequences of her case go well beyond monetary fines. Within days of her detention, officials moved to cancel her J-1 scholar visa. This last action made her a legal nonentity in the United States.
Petrova, now a campaigner, is currently held at an immigration jail in central Louisiana. On Tuesday morning, she’ll be at her first immigration court hearing. Her attorney, Gregory Romanovsky, hopes to get a clearer idea of what is needed to move her asylum application forward in this critical proceeding. The uncertainty regarding her case leaves in question the future of her research and contributions to the scientific community.
“Nobody knew what was happening to me. I didn’t have any contact, not to my lawyer, not to Leon, not to anybody,” – Kseniia Petrova
Petrova’s detention has upended her family life and sparked a deep concern among her fellow Harvard colleagues. Leon Peshkin, another Kirschner Lab researcher, expressed his discontent. What really troubles him, he says, is what this incident portends for the scientific community as a whole. He noted the growing number of scientists reconsidering their choice to remain in the U.S. They are concerned about growing immigration enforcement.
“It’s already having an effect. I hear from many colleagues that people who were planning to stay have changed their minds because they need to travel,” – Leon Peshkin
Peshkin stressed how critical scientists like Petrova are to our understanding of nature. Their selfless commitment to finding cures for disease is what truly changes the world. He stressed the fact that money is not their motivation, they are doing it for their love of the work.
Petrova’s predicament is more than a personal tragedy. It serves to showcase a deeper, more across-the-board trend of how the U.S. immigration system has begun to spontaneously treat researchers. Still, many scientists fear that arbitrary enforcement actions might block their work. They believe these actions frequently sideline their own expertise, experience and best intentions.
Petrova expressed her dismay over the system’s functioning, noting its relentless machinery that disregards individual stories:
“We are in this machine, and it doesn’t care if you have a visa, a green card, or any particular story…. It just keeps going,” – Kseniia Petrova
She walks a fine legal line. Scientists have been expressing concern over the impact of her detention on continued research outreach ever since her arrest. Peshkin accurately expressed his colleagues’ fears over the future of their work and the uncertainty that looms over it.
“We really don’t know if we’re ever going to see her again,” – Leon Peshkin
Petrova’s case highlights the especially important intersection of science and immigration policy. It should re-open questions about how these actions affect America’s landscape for innovation and research. The scientific community has united behind her, pointing out the need to protect international cooperation in these critical research areas.