No. of Recommendations: 5
Harvard again. Petrova didn't declare the samples so the new charge is smuggling. They seemed determined to deport her back to Russia where she'll be imprisoned or worse there.
SNIP “There does not seem to be either a factual or legal basis for the immigration officer’s actions” in stripping Ms. Petrova of her visa on Feb. 16, Christina Reiss, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Vermont, said in a court hearing.
She added that “Ms. Petrova’s life and well-being are in peril if she is deported to Russia,” as the government has said it intends to do.
While traveling to France on vacation, Ms. Petrova agreed to carry back samples of frog embryos from an affiliate laboratory at the request of her supervisor at Harvard Medical School.
When the samples were discovered during an inspection of Ms. Petrova’s baggage at Logan Airport in Boston, the customs official canceled her visa on the spot and started deportation proceedings. She was transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana, where she remained for more than three months.
At the end of the hearing on Wednesday, Judge Reiss said that “what happened in this case was extraordinary and novel,” and that if she did not take action in the case “there will be no determination” that Ms. Petrova’s rights had been violated.SNIP
They transferred Petrova down to Louisiana (or nearby) and then tried to tell the judge Petrova was out of her jurisdiction, but the judge ruled anyway. Good thing to, if the judge had accepted that, Petrova would be in Russia by now. Seems the new tactic is to get them out of the USA before anyone can make a ruling, and then not bring them back. Sad times for America.
So now they've slapped smuggling charges on her. I wish her good luck.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/science/russian...And here's Ronald Grump on Sesame Street, which Trump wants to defund.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2142691616180844 