A shift in the atmosphere
The return flight of Mrs. Petrova from Paris landed in Boston on the evening of February 16. While the plane sat on the asphalt, he sent back and forth with Dr. Peshkin, trying to confirm how the package should manage in the customs. But at that point, the passengers were already archiving by the plane, he said, and Mrs. Petrova interrupted the conversation.
Initially, said Mrs. Petrova, her return seemed normal. At Passport Control, an officer examined the J-1 visa that Harvard had sponsored, identifying it as a biomedical researcher. The officer stamped the passport, admitting it to the country.
So, while heading towards the luggage complaint, a border patrol officer approached her and asked her to look for her suitcase. All he could think was that the embryos champions inside would have been ruined; The RNA degrades easily. He explained that he did not know the rules. The officer was polite, he remembered and told her that she would be allowed to leave.
So a different officer entered the room and the tone of the conversation changed, said Mrs. Petrova. This officer has asked detailed questions about the champions, about the history of the work of Mrs. Petrova and his trip to Europe. The official then informed Mrs. Petrova who was canceling her visa and asked her if she was afraid of being expelled in Russia.
“Yes, I’m afraid to return to Russia,” he said, according to a transcription of the national security department provided by his lawyer. “I’m afraid that the Russian Federation will kill me for protesting against them.”
Mrs. Petrova’s lawyer, Greg Romanovsky, said that the protection of customs and borders had passed his authority by canceling his visa. He recognized that he had violated the customs regulations but said it was a minor crime, punishable by forfeiture and a fine.
To cancel the visa, said Romanovsky, the agents had to identify the land to exclude it. “There are many, many reasons for inadmissibility, but violating a customs rule is certainly not one of them,” he said.
Lucas Guttateg, professor at Stanford Law School, examined the documents in case and agreed. He said that Mrs. Petrova had been legally allowed in the United States, and then “the government itself created the alleged status of improper immigration which is now the basis for its detention”.
“Submiting anyone to this process is wrong, and this case is both shocking and revealing,” said Guttag, who was Senior Councilor of the Department of Justice under President Biden and Senior Advisor of the DHS during the Obama administration.
A spokesman for the DHS, asked why Mrs. Petrova’s visa had been canceled, said that a canine inspection found petri dishes and ampoules of embryonic stem cells in her luggage without adequate permits.
“The individual was legally detained after lying to the federal officers to transport biological substances to the country,” said the spokesperson. “The messages on his phone revealed that they have planned to contra from the materials through the customs without declaring them. He consciously broke the law and has taken deliberated measures to escape.”
When the border patrol agent canceled the visa of Mrs. Petrova, it became immigrant without documents, among the thousands held since Trump entered office. He was sent to the Richwood detention center to wait for an audition in which he will present his case for asylum to a judge of immigration.
“If he wins, he will not be expelled,” Romanovsky said. “If he loses, he will be deported to Russia.”
He also presented a petition for his release in the federal court and pushed Ice to free it in condition. “In essence, I’m pleading for mercy,” he said. “In a different environment, I think it would come out a long time ago.”
Mrs. Petrova spent the last month in a dormitory flanked by rows of bunk beds. It’s cold and at night women sometimes shiver under thin blankets. Once a day, one hour are admitted out. The breakfast arrives at different times, sometimes from 3:30 the most difficult thing, he said, is the constant noise. The psychiatrist of the structure gave her ears to help her sleep.
Unable to work, he observes the women around her. About half there are Latin American between 30 and 1940s who crossed the border for economic reasons, he said. A second group is composed of Asian and citizens of former Soviet states, which have crossed the border legally, looking for political asylum.
None of them deserve to be kept in these conditions, he said. “I thought it was impossible, to be in this situation,” he said. “Even immigrants here must have rights. But it seems that nobody really worries about our rights here.”
He challenged the opinion of America he formed in Russia. “This is not the type of America I knew,” he said.