Columbia University Indian student self-deports after US revokes visa over Hamas support

DHS confirms self-deportation via CBP Home App

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian doctoral student at Columbia University, has voluntarily left the United States after her visa was revoked over alleged support for Hamas. Srinivasan self-deported on March 11, 2025, using the CBP Home App, following a visa cancellation by the US Department of State on March 5 due to security concerns.

Homeland Security statement on visa revocation

US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem confirmed the self-deportation, stating:

“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.”

Increased scrutiny on foreign students amid campus protests

Srinivasan’s departure comes amid rising scrutiny of foreign students in the US following pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses.

• Another Columbia University student, Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers in Newark for overstaying her F-1 student visa, which expired on January 26, 2022.
• Kordia had previously been arrested in April 2024 for participating in pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University.

While the DHS has not released specific details about Srinivasan’s alleged activities, officials confirmed that video footage of her departure via the CBP Home App had been obtained.

Who is Ranjani Srinivasan?

Ranjani Srinivasan is a doctoral student in urban planning from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). According to the university’s website, she was doing research focussing on the evolving nature of land-labour relations in peri-urban statutory towns in India. Ms Srinivasan received support from the Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute for the research.

Ms Srinivasan has a Bachelor’s Degree from CEPT (Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology) University in Ahmedabad and a Master’s Degree from Harvard with Fulbright Nehru and Inlaks Scholarships. 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 Ms Srinivasan referring to herself with the gender-neutral “they” pronoun. It also said that the Indian national is broadly interested in urbanization, the political economy of development, and historical geographies of capitalism and caste.

According to her bio on NYU Wagner’s official website, her research focuses on urban land-use policies and socio-economic transitions in India.

US government maintains silence on specific allegations

The US government has not disclosed additional details regarding the exact reasons for her visa revocation, apart from allegations of supporting Hamas. The case has sparked debate over free speech, visa policies, and the role of foreign students in political activism on US campuses.

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