An Indian citizen who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University has self-deported, the Department of Homeland Security announced.
The department released video of Ranjani Srinivasan at what appears to be an airport as she hurried down a jetway with her bags. She left on Tuesday, the department said.
The State Department had revoked her visa last week.
Another student, Leqaa Kordia, has been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for breaching the terms of her student visa. The department said her visa was terminated in 2022 for “lack of attendance.”
She also had been part of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.
Columbia has been the site of some of the most intense protests following Hamas’ murderous attack on Israel in October 2023.
The Trump administration has moved to punish the protesters and the school, which U.S. officials accuse of not doing enough to protect Jewish students.
The biggest target has been Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student and legal permanent resident who is challenging his arrest and potential deportation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared Mr. Khalil’s presence to be against U.S. foreign policy interests.
His defenders say his arrest is an attack on immigrants’ First Amendment rights.
“Mahmoud is a lawful immigrant who has been neither charged with a crime nor alleged to have committed any crime; instead, the entire basis of his detention and possible deportation is Mahmoud’s role in student protests at Columbia University,” wrote Austin Kocher, a Syracuse University scholar who tracks immigration.
The administration describes Mr. Khalil, Ms. Srinivasan and Ms. Kordia as “supporting Hammas[sic]” or engaging in “pro-Hamas” behavior.
Their defenders say their protests were supporting Palestinians and challenge the description that they were pro-Hamas.
Homeland Security said Ms. Srinivasan used CBP Home, a new app released by the department designed to make it easier for illegal immigrants to remove themselves from the U.S.
That app replaced CBP One, which the Biden administration used to welcome more than a million unauthorized migrants using legally questionable “parole” powers.
