Indian Columbia University Student Self-Deports After US Cancels Visa Over Pro-Palestine Protests

An Indian student at Columbia University has self-deported herself from the United States after her visa was revoked for participating in pro-Palestine protests.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that Ranjani Srinivasan’s visa was canceled on 5 March for advocating "violence and terrorism."

"Ranjani Srinivasan was involved in activities supporting Hamas, a terrorist organisation. On March 5, 2025, the Department of State revoked her visa. The Department of Homeland Security has obtained video footage of her using the Customs and Border Protection (CPB) agency app to self-deport on March 11," the DHS said in a statement.

Self-deportation, which involves leaving voluntarily before authorities take action, allows individuals to avoid being placed on a US military aircraft and sent home like the deportees who recently arrived in India.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared a video of Ranjani Srinivasan at the airport, stating that individuals "advocating for violence and terrorism should not be in the country."

"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. I am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to self-deport," she said in a post on X.

Srinivasan was a doctoral student in urban planning at Columbia University.

According to the school's website, she was doing research at Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, NDTV reported.

She holds a Bachelor's degree from CEPT University in Ahmedabad and a Master's degree from Harvard with Fulbright Nehru and Inlaks Scholarships.

It also mentioned that she has worked for an environmental advocacy nonprofit in Washington on "frontier communities at risk from climate change" and as a researcher for the West Philadelphia Landscape Project (WPLP) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The school's website shows Srinivasan referring to herself with the gender-neutral "they" pronoun.

Columbia University has been a focal point of student-led demonstrations supporting Palestine during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Last week, US authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student of Palestinian descent who played a leading role in last year’s campus protests.

Although his green card has been revoked, a federal judge has temporarily paused his deportation.

Another Columbia University student, Leqaa Kordia, was detained by immigration officials for overstaying her student visa. She had previously been arrested last year for participating in pro-Palestine demonstrations in New York.

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