Ranjani Srinivasan, whose visa was revoked by the state department, leaves the US.
Ranjani Srinivasan, whose visa was revoked by the state department, leaves the US.
An Indian student of Columbia University whose student visa was revoked “for advocating for violence and terrorism” had “self-deported”, the US department of homeland security (DHS) said on Friday.
“Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that one of the Columbia students who had her student visa revoked for advocating for violence and terrorism self-deported using the CBP Home App and ICE arrested a Palestinian student for overstaying her expired F-1 visa,” a DHS statement said.
“Ranjani Srinivasan, a citizen and national of India, entered the United States on a(n) F-1 student visa as doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University. Srinivasan was involved in activities supporting Hammas (sic), a terrorist organization. On March 5, 2025, the Department of State revoked her visa. The Department of Homeland Security has obtained video footage of her using the CBP Home App to self-deport on March 11.”
In the US, “self-deportation” means a foreigner without a valid visa voluntarily leaving the country. Such people have the opportunity to later return legally. Those who do not “self-deport” can be deported under the legal process without the right to return. “CBP” stands for US Customs and Border Protection and “ICE” for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Another student Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested by ICE HSI Newark officers for overstaying her expired F-1 student visa. Her visa terminated on January 26, 2022, for lack of attendance. Previously, in April 2024 Kordia was arrested for her involvement in pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University in New York City,” the statement said.
The Indian Rightwing social media ecosystem shared Ranjani’s photo and academic details widely.
Academic Madhu Kishwar posted on X: “I hope she goes straight to HAMAS land or Afghanistan/ Pakistan or Syria. @HMOIndia please do not allow this jihaadee garbage to come to India. If America can revoke her visa, you can revoke her citizenship.”
In a post on X, influencer Abhijit Iyer-Mitra wrote: “I certainly hope @HMOIndia will put Ranjani Srinivasan on the No Fly list once she is back in India.” The website of New York University — where Ranjani was an adjunct assistant professor — says: “Ranjani Srinivasan is a Doctoral Candidate in Urban Planning at Columbia GSAPP. They (Ranjani) hold a Bachelor’s in Design from CEPT University in Ahmedabad and was awarded with the Fulbright Nehru and Inlaks Scholarships to pursue their master’s degree in Critical Conservation at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University.”
Ranjani uses non-binary pronouns.
US President Donald Trump has cracked down on Palestinian Solidarity protests on campuses even more vigorously than his predecessor Joe Biden. Columbia has been at the heart of these protests.
Immigration officials have arrested Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian and a permanent resident of the US, for organising protests against Israel’s military operations in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria since 2023 that have killed around 70,000 people. Israel has justified its offensive as retaliation for a Hamas attack on the country in 2023 that claimed more than 1,000 lives.
Police detained around 100 people in New York for protesting against Khalil’s arrest.
“Last week, the Trump administration had announced the immediate cancellation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University due to the ‘school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students’,” PTI reported.
It said the departments of justice, health and human services, and education and the US general services administration had taken the action as members of the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.
“The education department said in a press release that Columbia University currently holds more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments,” the PTI report said.
“President Donald Trump has asserted that any college or university that allows illegal protests and repeatedly fails to protect students from anti-Semitic harassment on campus will be subject to the loss of federal funding.”
The PTI report quoted US secretary of education Linda McMahon as saying: “Universities must comply with all federal anti-discrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding. For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus.... We demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer.”
The report added: “In the spring of last year, large-scale pro-Palestinian protests by students against the war in Gaza erupted across US campuses as well as at Columbia University that saw encampments on the West Lawn of Columbia’s Morningside campus since April 19….
“On Thursday, the Columbia University Judicial Board issued ‘sanctions’ to students ranging from ‘multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions’ related to the occupation of Hamilton Hall last spring during the Gaza protests.”