Indian scholar leaves US after visa is revoked for allegedly ‘supporting Hamas’

Indian doctoral student Ranjani Srinivasan, whose visa was revoked for allegedly supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas, has “self-deported” from the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday.

Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, said that the Columbia University student, whose student visa was revoked for “advocating for violence and terrorism”, had voluntarily left the country using the CBP Home App, or the Customs and Border Protection Home mobile application.

The app allows undocumented immigrants or persons whose visa has expired or has been revoked to notify the US government of their intent to leave the country, “offering them the chance to leave before facing harsher consequences”.

Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, had gone to the US on a student visa as a doctoral student in urban planning at New York’s Columbia University.

The Department of Homeland Security alleged that Srinivasan was “involved in activities supporting Hamas”. The Palestinian militant group is designated as a terrorist organisation in the US.

In April 2024, Columbia University became the site of protests against Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed more than 61,700 persons, including over 17,400 children. Soon after, police officers entered the campus and arrested dozens of protesters.

Protest encampments against the war were also erected in several other universities in the US.

The department did not provide details of the activities Srinivasan was allegedly involved...

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