Romanovsky Law

Boutique immigration law firm based in Boston and New York, handling the most complex immigration cases.

[Michael West @GerontologyMike]

Please Help Rescue an Aging Researcher from Selective Prosecution

In February of last year, a young scientist named Kseniia Petrova from Harvard Medical School brought some completely safe microscopic slides of developing lab frog embryos from a lab in France back to Harvard. She was detained by ICE, her Visa illegally revoked, and sent to a federal prison in Louisiana for months before seeing a judge. She is now facing criminal smuggling charges from DOJ with penalties of up to 20 years in prison (see news report pasted below):

Kseniia’s goal is to discover new cures for aging through regenerative medicine, particularly using the frog as a model of age reprogramming. I have testified on her behalf regarding the great contributions she could make to the U.S. and reminded the court of the value highly trained scientists and intellectuals have historically made to the U.S. (Peter Thiel and Elon Musk being salient examples).

Kseniia has stated in an interview: “Kseniia Petrova: The only thing which I really enjoy in my life is science, and this is what I was dedicated to and I was spending almost all my time in the lab and I was interested in biology, and I would like to become a good scientist someday. Not yet, but this is what I was trying to achieve.”

I would ask those reading this that can spread the word, or who have influence with the Administration, to try to get charges dropped in this case. These scientific samples were inert and posed no biological or medical risk. The intent of the laws Kseniia is charged with violating were clearly intended to prevent smuggling of animal-derived materials like rhino horn, elephant tusks and the like, not microscope slides of lab animal cells to be used at the finest medical research facility in the U.S. Lastly, if we don’t speak up to help this sincere scientist, we have no right to claim the U.S. values those who slave away at the lab bench doing their best to make life better (and longer) for all of us. Again I ask, please spread the word or help directly if you can.

https://t.co/zstAucs5qj
@aubreydegrey @peterthiel @elonmusk

[Romanovsky Law @romanovskylaw]

As a nation, we can debate who gets in and who doesn’t – but whatever the rules are, they must be fair, transparent, and consistent.

Unfortunately, there is not even a semblance of due process in today's immigration courts.
https://t.co/mYnkpBwONW

[Romanovsky Law @romanovskylaw]

Judge rules CBP unlawfully canceled Harvard researcher's visa over frog embryos https://t.co/6xzI1EzzHV @ABC @abcnews

[Romanovsky Law @romanovskylaw]

We’re pleased to see the Court confirm that CBP had no lawful authority to cancel Ms. Petrova’s visa. A significant step toward correcting what should never have happened in the first place. @kyledcheney @Billbrowder

[Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney]

A federal judge in Vermont has ordered the restoration of Harvard researcher Kseniia Petrova's visa, finding it was revoked by a CBP officer without lawful authority. https://t.co/Lmqy8MUSZC

[Ellen Barry @EllenBarryNYT]

A federal judge in Vermont has ordered Kseniia Petrova released from ICE custody, commenting that she saw no "factual or legal basis" for revoking Petrova's visa.
A big legal win. But Petrova also faces criminal charges & watched the hearing from a Louisiana jail.
https://t.co/hOEBpm6sms

[Sir William Browder KCMG @Billbrowder]

BREAKING: Russian Scientist Kseniia Petrova, Released After Four Months in Federal Custody https://t.co/tiAE3zAVuE via @NYTimes

[ABC News @ABC]

Harvard University researcher Kseniia Petrova appeared in Massachusetts federal court on Wednesday for a probable cause hearing after being charged with smuggling frog embryos into the U.S. https://t.co/UMzNr8Kx0C

[USA TODAY @USATODAY]

Judge orders Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova released from custody https://t.co/QG9t4ETNRv

[Gary Grumbach @GaryGrumbach]

The immigration/federal cases of these individuals are ongoing, but five high profile university students/researchers detained by the US Government have now all been ordered released by judges:

Kseniia Petrova
Rumeysa Ozturk
Badar Khan Suri
Mohsen Mahdawi
Mahmoud Khalil

[Lara Marlowe @LaraMarlowe]

Hooray! Kseniia Petrova, the Russian-born researcher at Harvard Medical School who was unjustly imprisoned by the Trump administration has been released. You can read this NYT article for free, without a subscription. https://t.co/Rc7BEiA39b

[NBC News @NBCNews]

A federal judge grants bail to Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova, who has spent more than three months in custody after failing to declare frog embryos upon arriving in the United States. https://t.co/Q6mHptjKcu

[The New York Times @nytimes]

Breaking News: A judge said the government should release Kseniia Petrova, a Russian scientist employed by Harvard University, saying U.S. customs had “no factual or legal basis” for revoking her visa. https://t.co/GgaLFInSCr

[Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @ReichlinMelnick]

NEW: Per @johnhawkinson, a federal judge just ordered the release from ICE custody of Kseniia Petrova, the Russian academic arrested for allegedly smuggling frog embryos into the US. After her story went viral, DOJ charged her, but now ICE may not detain her if released on bail.

[Mark Warner @MarkWarner]

Kseniia Petrova was studying the next big breakthroughs in healthy aging – but now she’s trapped in ICE detention, fearful of being deported back to Russia. What is this administration doing?
https://t.co/eM1UTp2Vpy

[Romanovsky Law @romanovskylaw]

https://t.co/Y88RcxpdTt

[Romanovsky Law @romanovskylaw]

She failed to declare non-toxic research samples. The penalty under the law? A fine of up to $500 and seizure of the item. DHS has no authority to impose immigration penalties for this. Now they're pushing a lying narrative to justify their unlawful actions.

[Homeland Security @DHSgov]

The individual was lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.

A subsequent K9 inspection uncovered undeclared petri dishes, containers of unknown substances, and loose vials of embryonic frog cells, all without proper permits.

Messages found on her phone revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them.

She knowingly broke the law and took deliberate steps to evade it.

[Romanovsky Law @romanovskylaw]

@DHSgov She failed to declare non-toxic research samples. The penalty under the law? A fine of up to $500 and seizure of the item. DHS has no authority to impose immigration penalties for this. Now you're pushing a lying narrative to justify your unlawful actions. See you in court.

[Romanovsky Law @romanovskylaw]

These posts aren't just childish and embarrassing – they're a symptom of something far more disturbing. What’s truly remarkable is that in Russia – the very regime this administration is trying to emulate – this kind of brazen arrogance, unabashed lying, and unhinged rhetoric is typically outsourced to TV propagandists like Solovyov and his ilk. They're the ones who constantly talk about "winning" and how Putin outplayed the entire world.
Here, Trump’s doing the dirty work himself – too vain to delegate and too dimwitted to realize he should. I guess, in that regard, we're lucky Trump lacks the intelligence and discipline that Putin has.

[Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social @TrumpDailyPosts]

Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country. Happy Easter also to the WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials who are allowing this sinister attack on our Nation to continue, an attack so violent that it will never be forgotten! Sleepy Joe Biden purposefully allowed Millions of CRIMINALS to enter our Country, totally unvetted and unchecked, through an Open Borders Policy that will go down in history as the single most calamitous act ever perpetrated upon America. He was, by far, our WORST and most Incompetent President, a man who had absolutely no idea what he was doing -- But to him, and to the person that ran and manipulated the Auto Pen (perhaps our REAL President!), and to all of the people who CHEATED in the 2020 Presidential Election in order to get this highly destructive Moron Elected, I wish you, with great love, sincerity, and affection, a very Happy Easter!!!

From Donald Trump Truth Social 04/20/25 08:46 AM