Press Release  AG Campbell Files Brief In Support Of Unlawfully Detained Harvard Researcher Kseniia Petrova

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed an amicus brief today in Petrova v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont in support of Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born Harvard University cancer researcher. Ms. Petrova has been unlawfully detained since February 2025 at a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center in Louisiana and has been swept up in the Trump Administration’s unlawful weaponization of immigration enforcement tactics designed to intimidate, silence, and detain noncitizens. In her brief, AG Campbell opposes the federal government’s efforts to dismiss Ms. Petrova’s petition for release.

“Ms. Petrova’s case is not an isolated incident – this is just the latest example of the Trump Administration’s reckless and cruel misuse of power to punish and terrorize non-citizen members of the academic community,” said AG Campbell. “I will continue to fight to defend the rights of our international students and faculty, who meaningfully contribute to the academic and economic success of our communities.”

Ms. Petrova is a valued member of the Harvard Medical School academic community, who prior to her detention ten weeks ago, has been conducting critical research on degenerative diseases under a valid J-1 visa. Ms. Petrova returned from a trip to France via Boston’s Logan International Airport when she was stopped and questioned by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents regarding undeclared, non-toxic frog embryos found in her luggage – materials she was transporting for research purposes only. Rather than impose the standard penalty for undeclared items, such as a fine or forfeit of the undeclared items, CBP denied Ms. Petrova admission into the United States and revoked her visa. Ms. Petrova, who expressed a credible fear of returning to Russia, has now been held for over two months in a remote ICE facility in Louisiana.  

AG Campbell’s brief filed in support of Ms. Petrova opposes the Trump Administration's motion to dismiss Ms. Petrova’s petition for release. Citing a gross abuse of federal power, AG Campbell argues that the Trump Administration’s motion not only lacks merit but is just the latest demonstration of its efforts to implement cruel and punitive immigration policies that create an atmosphere of fear among immigrant communities.

Further, the brief emphasizes the broader harm of the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement policies on the Commonwealth’s long-term economic development and international standing as the home to several world-renowned research institutions. As referenced in the brief, during the 2023-2024 school year, Massachusetts hosted 82,306 international students who supported more than 35,000 jobs and contributed approximately $3.9 billion annually to the economy through tuition, living expenses, and related spending. Targeting international students and researchers not only weakens the Commonwealth’s dedication to academic freedom, global collaboration, and scholarship, but also creates a chilling effect on the international exchange of knowledge and resources.

This matter is AG Campbell’s latest effort to protect and defend the Commonwealth’s immigrant community against the Trump Administration’s unlawful and harmful immigration enforcement policies. For example, last month, AG Campbell co-led a coalition of 19 attorney generals in filing an amicus brief challenging President Trump’s “Ideological Deportation Policy” and emphasizing the cultural, economic, and intellectual contributions of the non-citizen residents of each participating state. 

This matter is being handled by Deputy State Solicitor Tasha J. Bahal, Assistant Attorney General Hannah Vail of the Attorney General’s Office’s Trial Division, and Special Assistant Attorney General Christophe Courchesne.

The amicus brief may be viewed in its entirety here.   

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