Indian PhD Student at Columbia University Self-Deports After Trump Administration Revokes Visa for ‘Supporting Hamas

Indian PhD Student at Columbia University Self-Deports Following Trump Administration Cancellation of Visa for ‘Promoting Hamas’

A PhD student at Columbia University who is Indian has self-deported following the cancellation of her visa by the Donald Trump administration on the grounds that she “supports violence and terrorism” and promoted Hamas.

Ranjani Srinivasan, a citizen of India, had entered the US on an F-1 visa for a student as a doctoral student of Urban Planning at Columbia University, said a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday.

The Department of State canceled Srinivasan’s visa on March 5, alleging that she was involved in activities promoting Hamas, a US government-designated terrorist organization. DHS also reported that it received footage of Srinivasan utilizing the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home App to self-deport on March 11.

Homeland Security Secretary Confirms Deportation

On March 11, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed Srinivasan’s self-deportation, saying, “Today, one of the Columbia students whose student visa was revoked for promoting violence and terrorism self-deported via the CBP Home App.” The release also mentioned that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had arrested another student, a Palestinian citizen named Leqaa Kordia, for staying beyond her F-1 visa. Kordia, a West Bank resident, had been arrested earlier in April 2024 for attending pro-Hamas demonstrations at Columbia University.

Trump Administration’s Crackdown on Campus Activism

The Trump administration has been actively tracking student involvement in campus protests against Israel’s Gaza war, often equating activism with Hamas support. Columbia University, with its large international student body, has been at the center of this crackdown.

Late on Thursday evening, the administration sent a letter calling for Columbia University to put its Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS) into “academic receivership,” a step that would turn control of the department over to an outside agency. The administration gave the university until March 20 to acquiesce, threatening that refusal could affect its financial relationship with the US government.

The institution has been at the center of pro-Palestinian demonstrations since 2023 and 2024, where students have been protesting against the Gaza war. There are estimated arrests of over 3,000 protesters during crackdowns in US campuses.

Federal Funding Cut to Columbia University

Last week, the Trump administration announced an immediate cancellation of about $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University on grounds of the institution’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”

President Trump has asserted a strong policy position regarding Israel-Palestine student activism. Soon after he entered the White House on January 20, he issued an executive order directing the dismission of foreign nationals who bear “hostile attitudes” against US citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, or support threats to national security.

Background of Ranjani Srinivasan

Srinivasan has a Bachelor’s degree in Design from CEPT University in Ahmedabad, according to Columbia University’s website. She was also a Fulbright Nehru and Inlaks Scholar, which allowed her to study for a Master’s degree in Critical Conservation at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Srinivasan’s doctoral dissertation concerned continuities and transformations of caste rights in extractive economies in post-colonial India. She was supported by the Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute. In addition, she has engaged in environmental stewardship and urban planning advocacy as a project associate in Washington, DC, and as a field researcher for international development agencies in South Asia.

CBP Home App: A New Self-Deportation Tool

The Department of Homeland Security released the CBP Home App on March 10, adding a self-deportation reporting option for people living in the country illegally. The application offers such people a choice to “leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the chance to come back legally in the future and live the American dream.” Homeland Security officials have threatened that those who do not self-deport will be removed forcibly and barred from reentry permanently.

In the wake of ongoing federal monitoring of campus activism, the withdrawal of Srinivasan’s visa marks a more general reorientation of immigration policy enforcement during the Trump presidency.