Indian student Ranjani Srinivasan self-deports after US revokes visa over participation in pro-Palestine protests

The Indian student was identified as Ranjani Srinivasan.

The US Homeland Security said her visa was revoked for advocating 'violence and terrorism'.

The US Homeland Security said in a statement: "Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that one of the Columbia students who had her student visa revoked for advocating for violence and terrorism self-deported using the CBP Home App and ICE arrested a Palestinian student for overstaying her expired F-1 visa."

Ranjani Srinivasan

As per the Homeland Security website, Ranjani Srinivasan, a citizen and national of India, entered the United States on an F-1 student visa as a doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University.

The US Homeland Security website claimed Srinivasan was involved in activities supporting Hamas, the group that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, which led to the Gaza invasion.

On March 5, 2025, the Department of State revoked her visa.

"The Department of Homeland Security has obtained video footage of her using the CBP Home App to self-deport on March 11," the department said in the statement. 

Leqaa Kordia

Another student, Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from West Bank, was also arrested by ICE HSI Newark officers for overstaying her expired F-1 student visa.

Her visa was terminated on January 26, 2022, for lack of attendance. Previously, in April 2024 Kordia was arrested for her involvement in pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University in New York City.

Kristi Noem Shares Video

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared a video on her X page where the Indian national could be seen in the airport, showing the moment she self-deported from the country.

"It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live & study in the United States of America," Noem wrote on X.

"When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country," she said,

"I’m glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to self deport," she said.