Indian scholar self-deports after US revokes visa

WASHINGTON, DC : Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national and a doctoral student at Columbia University, has voluntarily left the United States after her visa was revoked for allegedly “advocating violence and terrorism.”

In a statement on Friday (local time), US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that Srinivasan, a student in Urban Planning at Columbia University, self-deported using the CBP Home App.

“Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that one of the Columbia students who had her student visa revoked for advocating for violence and terrorism self-deported using the CBP Home App and ICE arrested a Palestinian student for overstaying her expired F-1 visa,” according to a release by the the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The US Department of State revoked Srinivasan’s visa on March 5, alleging her involvement in “activities supporting Hammas.”

“Ranjani Srinivasan, a citizen and national of India, entered the United States on a F-1 student visa as a doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University. Srinivasan was involved in activities supporting Hammas, a terrorist organization. On March 5, 2025, the Department of State revoked her visa. The Department of Homeland Security has obtained video footage of her using the CBP Home App to self-deport on March 11,” the release stated.

Additionally, Secretary Noem said that holding a US visa is a privilege.

“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live & study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country. I’m glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to self deport,” she wrote in a post on X.

It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live & study in the United States of America.

When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country.

I’m glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers… pic.twitter.com/jR2uVVKGCM

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) March 14, 2025

In a related case, another student, Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested by Immigration and Custom Enforcement ICE HSI Newark officers for overstaying her expired F-1 student visa. Her visa terminated on January 26, 2022, for lack of attendance, according to the release.

Previously, in April 2024, Kordia was arrested for her involvement in pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University in New York City, the release added. (ANI)