Columbia Student Escapes to Canada After ICE Pursuit
Ranjani Srinivasan's journey began when her student visa was unexpectedly canceled by U.S. immigration officials. This marked the start of a challenging period for her.
It all began eight days ago on a Friday morning when three federal immigration agents arrived at a Columbia University apartment looking for Srinivasan, an international student from India. She had recently discovered her visa had been revoked and chose not to answer the door.
The agents returned the following night, but Srinivasan was not there. That same night, Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student living on campus, was detained, causing unrest at the university. Srinivasan quickly packed a few essentials, left her cat with a friend, and flew to Canada from LaGuardia Airport.
By the time the agents came back with a judicial warrant on Thursday night, she had already left.
"The situation felt extremely unstable and threatening," Srinivasan, 37, shared in an interview on Friday, her first public statement since leaving. "I had to make a swift decision."
Srinivasan, a Fulbright scholar working on a Ph.D. in urban planning, found herself caught up in the broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists under President Trump's administration, which utilized federal immigration authority. She is among several noncitizens at Columbia who have been targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently.
Since the initial visit from the agents, Srinivasan has been trying to comprehend why the State Department suddenly revoked her visa without explanation, leading to Columbia canceling her enrollment due to her changed legal status.