Columbia University student self-deports following visa revocation over pro-Hamas protests
03/23/2025 / By Laura Harris
- Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national and Columbia University doctoral student, had her F-1 student visa revoked due to her involvement in pro-Hamas protests. She voluntarily left the U.S. using the CBP Home app, a new tool for self-reporting departures.
- Launched in March, the app allows individuals to submit personal information and travel plans for voluntary departure, streamlining immigration enforcement for those facing deportation or visa overstays.
- Srinivasan’s departure is part of a broader federal response to campus unrest, with other Columbia protest leaders, including Mahmoud Khalil and Leqaa Kordia, facing arrest, detention and deportation for their alleged involvement in pro-Hamas activities.
- Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born graduate and protest leader, was detained by ICE on March 8 and is awaiting deportation. Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian student, was arrested for overstaying her visa and alleged pro-Hamas activity.
- DHS Secretary Kristi Noem emphasized that advocating for violence or terrorism warrants visa revocation and deportation, highlighting the administration’s strict approach to campus protests and immigration enforcement.
A foreign student at Columbia University has left the U.S. using a self-deportation app after her F-1 student visa was revoked due to her involvement in pro-Hamas protests on campus.
Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national who entered the U.S. on a student visa, was involved in pro-Hamas activities during her time as a doctoral student at Columbia University. Due to her alleged activities in support of Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, the Department of State revoked her student visa.
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on March 14 that Srinivasan was captured on surveillance footage departing the U.S. on March 11 using the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home app, a rebranded version of the Biden-era CBP One app, which now includes a feature for illegal migrants to self-report their intention to leave the country.
The CBP Home app, which was quietly rolled out earlier this month, allows individuals to submit their personal information, travel plans and intent to leave the country voluntarily. DHS officials have touted the app as a more efficient way to manage immigration enforcement, particularly for individuals who are already in the process of deportation or have overstayed their visas.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said on March 14. “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.”
Video footage shared by Noem shows Srinivasan boarding a flight from New York City to India.
University protest leaders face deportation as federal crackdown on campus unrest intensifies
The self deportation of Srinivasan follows the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born foreign national and one of the leaders of the Columbia University’s Apartheid Divest movement.
Khalil, a prominent figure in the protests, was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on March 8 and is currently being held at a detention facility in Louisiana while his deportation proceedings unfold. He completed his graduate studies at Columbia in December and may face visa revocation and green card cancellation under the administration’s crackdown on college unrest.
Despite graduating, he continued to live in school-provided housing due to a policy allowing post-graduation residency. His arrest marks a significant escalation in the federal government’s response to the protests, which have been accused of turning violent and fostering anti-Semitic activity on campus. (Related: Trump Administration targets pro-Palestine activist for DEPORTATION, citing “foreign policy threat” in free speech crackdown.)
Khalil is not the only Columbia protester to face legal consequences.
On March 14, the DHS revealed that ICE agents arrested Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, for overstaying her expired student visa. Despite her visa being terminated in January 2022 for lack of attendance, Kordia remained in the U.S. and was arrested in April 2024 for her alleged involvement in pro-Hamas activity inside Columbia’s campus.
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Watch this video about pro-Hamas protests in Columbia University.
This video is from the alltheworldsastage channel on Brighteon.com.
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Tagged Under:
anti-Semitism, bias, big government, Columbia University, control, crackdown, dangerous precedent, deep state, DHS, dissent, education system, First Amendment, Foreign policy, free speech, Hamas, Homeland Security, Israel, Liberty, permanent residency, Ranjani Srinivasan, Self-deportation, speech police
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