Ranjani Srinivasan, a 37-year-old Indian PhD candidate at Columbia University, found herself thrust into a nightmare when U.S. federal immigration agents knocked on her apartment door last week. The visit, part of a Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism, came after her F-1 student visa was revoked on March 5, 2025, for allegedly "advocating violence and terrorism" and supporting Hamas. Srinivasan, who opted to "self-deport" to Canada on March 11 using the CBP Home App, described the ordeal as a "volatile and dangerous" assault on her life’s work.

Srinivasan, a Fulbright scholar in her fifth year of studying Urban Planning, wasn’t home for the first visit. When agents returned the next night, she had already fled—packing light, entrusting her cat to a friend, and boarding a flight from LaGuardia Airport. By Thursday, when agents entered with a warrant, she was gone. "The atmosphere seemed so volatile," she told The New York Times in her first public comments since leaving. "I just made a quick decision."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims Srinivasan’s visa revocation stemmed from her failure to disclose two court summonses from a 2023 Columbia protest when renewing her visa. Yet, no evidence links her to violence or terrorism—only to pro-Palestinian speech, which her lawyers call "protected." Columbia subsequently terminated her enrollment, leaving her degree in limbo. "Having my visa revoked upended my future—not for wrongdoing, but for free speech," she told CNN. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem hailed her exit as a triumph, stating on X, "When you advocate for violence, that privilege should be revoked."

Srinivasan’s case underscores a chilling escalation in the U.S.’s targeting of foreign students amid political dissent, raising questions about free expression and due process.