Federal Judge Frees Harvard Researcher Held by Immigration Officials Over Frog Embryo Samples

A federal judge in Vermont ordered the release of Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born Harvard University researcher, from immigration custody on Wednesday, finding that her detention was unlawful. Petrova still faces a criminal charge of smuggling frog embryos into the United States.

U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss, sitting in Burlington, ruled that the actions of immigration officers were unlawful and that Petrova did not pose a danger. She also found that the embryos were non-living and non-hazardous and "posed a threat to no one."

The case stems from a trip to France, where Petrova, 30, visited a laboratory that specializes in slicing extremely thin sections of frog embryos and picked up a package of samples for research. In February, as she went through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint at Boston Logan International Airport, she was questioned about them. Petrova told The Associated Press in an interview last month that she did not realize the items had to be declared and was not trying to sneak anything into the country. After an interrogation, she was told her visa was being canceled.

Following her detention by immigration officials, Petrova filed a petition in Vermont seeking release. She was held briefly in that state before being transferred to Louisiana. Earlier this month, she was charged with smuggling, around the time Reiss scheduled a hearing on her petition.

Colleagues and academics testified on Petrova's behalf, describing her work as valuable to efforts to advance cures for cancer. Michael West, a scientist and entrepreneur in the biotech industry, said he does not know Petrova but is familiar with her published papers. "It is excellent science," he testified. West said her medical research skills are highly sought after and that he would hire her "in a heartbeat."

Petrova is now in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in Louisiana. Lawyers said in court that she could be brought to Massachusetts as early as Friday ahead of a bail hearing on the smuggling charge next week.

Her attorney, Gregory Romanovsky, argued that Customs and Border Protection had no legal basis to cancel her visa and detain her. He also asked Reiss to bar ICE from detaining Petrova again if she is released from custody in Massachusetts. Reiss declined, saying she was reluctant "to enjoin an executive agency from untaking future actions which are uncertain." She said she would instead rely on statements by U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Hartman that the government has no intention at this time of re-arresting Petrova.

The Department of Homeland Security had said in a statement on the social media platform X that Petrova was detained after "lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country." The department alleged that messages on her phone "revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them."

Harvard said in a statement that the university "continues to monitor the situation."