The Department of Homeland Security announced the self-deportation of Indian national Ranjani Srinivasan, who took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University in the United States. Her visa was revoked by the State Department of the Trump Administration last week.
According to reports, the department has made public a video showing Ranjani Srinivasan hurrying down a jetway with her suitcases at what looks to be an airport. According to The Washington Times, which cited the Department of Homeland Security, she departed on Tuesday.
Her visa was canceled by the State Department last week.
According to the news agency Associated Press, the Trump administration stepped up its efforts to deport foreigners who took part in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year, and one of the university’s top officials said Friday that the US Justice Department is also looking into whether the university hidden “illegal aliens” on campus.
On Thursday night, Department of Homeland Security agents used a warrant to search two apartments at the campus. Although it was unclear who the authorities were looking for and no one was taken into custody, it also stated that by Friday afternoon, US officials had disclosed information about two individuals they had been pursuing about the protests.
An Indian doctorate student at Columbia University named Ranjani Srinivasan departed the United States on an airplane when the Trump administration cancelled his visa. Additionally, federal immigration officials in Newark, New Jersey, arrested a Palestinian woman who had been detained during the university’s protests in April of last year on suspicion of overstaying an expired visa.
Speaking at the Justice Department, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed that the president’s “mission to end antisemitism in this country” included all of this.
The Trump administration has put Columbia University under tremendous pressure in recent weeks. The US government has canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the university, most of which are for medical research, as retaliation for the university’s failure to take more aggressive action against faculty and students who opposed Israel’s military action in Gaza during massive demonstrations last spring.
Protesters have been labeled “pro-Hamas” by President Donald Trump and other officials, a reference to the extremist organization that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who assisted in organizing the protests last spring, was arrested on Saturday, sparking a crisis on Columbia University’s campus.
Why was the visa for Ranjani Srinivasan revoked?
The Trump administration said on Friday that Ranjani Srinivasan’s visa had been canceled due to his “advocacy for violence and terrorism.” According to the department, Srinivasan decided to “self-deport” on Tuesday. The proof officials had that Srinivasan had called for violence was not disclosed.
A news release claims that Ranjani Srinivasan was “involved in activities supporting Hamas, a terrorist organization” after entering the country on an F-1 visa.
The news statement stated, “The Department of State revoked her visa on March 5, 2025.” “Video footage of her self-deporting on March 11 via the CBP Home App has been obtained by the Department of Homeland Security.”
On Friday, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem shared a video on X that seems to show Srinivasan at LaGuardia Airport pulling luggage.
On Monday, the DHS issued a news release announcing the debut of the CBP Home app. Undocumented immigrants can use the app’s self-deportation option to indicate their intention to depart the country.
Another demonstrator taken into custody.
Leqaa Kordia, the lady who was detained in Newark, was accused of not leaving the United States after her visa expired. According to Columbia, there was no documentation of Kordia ever attending the university or being arrested there. But at the same time, there were a lot of arrests and protests in the streets outside the campus.
