New Delhi: An Indian PhD student at Columbia University who had their student visa revoked for what was described by the US Homeland Security as “advocating for violence and terrorism” self deported on Friday (March 14).
Self-deportation is when a person chooses to leave by themselves after the cancellation of a visa, requiring no arrangement for their return home from the deporting country.
In a statement, Homeland Security said that Ranjani Srinivasan, who was on a F-1 student visa, was a doctoral student of 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 (Customs and Border Protection) Home App to self-deport on March 11,” the statement said.
The statement added that her visa was revoked “for advocating for violence and terrorism”.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem while sharing a video of Srinivasan leaving.
“When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country. I am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to self-deport.”
Homeland Security also said that another student, a Palestinian from West Bank, Leqaa Kordia was arrested by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) HSI Newark officers for overstaying her expired F-1 student visa.
“Her visa terminated on January 26, 2022, for lack of attendance. Previously, in April 2024 Kordia was arrested for her involvement in pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University in New York City,” the statement said.
The Homeland Security’s statement comes as video footage was released of Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest. Khalil, who was arrested on March 10, is a recent Columbia University graduate had been a lead negotiator for the 2024 Columbia student encampment demanding divestment from Israeli apartheid and genocide. Following his arrest, US president Donald Trump in a post on Truth Social, called Mahmoud a “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student” and called his arrest “the first arrest of many to come”.
A second student, Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from West Bank, was arrested by immigration officers for overstaying her student visa.
The Trump administration has pulled $400 million in federal funding from the Columbia University over what Trump has called a failure to crack down on antisemitism on campus, after the university saw protests over Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the US government’s support to it.
