While President Trump boasts about making America great again, many academics strongly disagree following his administration’s treatment of a Harvard scientist. Kseniia Petrova, a researcher from Russia, has been working at the Kirschner Lab to help drive breakthroughs in cancer detection. Specifically, Petrova’s role involves analyzing data from advanced imaging tools to gain deeper insights into tumors. Her goal is to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment through these cutting-edge technologies. Despite her critical contributions, ICE recently arrested her and has kept her in a detention facility in Louisiana for the past two months.
Although she was an established scientist at Harvard University, ICE agents apprehended Petrova at a Boston airport. The reason for her arrest was simply that she was carrying undeclared frog embryo samples, which she had obtained from a lab in France for her research. Nevertheless, ICE decided to detain her and is now threatening her with deportation to Russia, largely because of her participation in protests against the war in Ukraine. Her colleagues have stressed that Petrova is vital to the advancement of cancer research, and her absence would severely hinder their progress.
While the Harvard scientist remains locked in the Louisiana facility, she has managed to speak with the media to share her experience. Petrova compared ICE to a grinding machine that processes anyone they deem even slightly suspicious, regardless of whether they have a visa or a green card.
Because of ICE’s actions, the reputation of American universities has taken a serious hit. Many academics are now living in fear, with some even considering moving to other countries before they, too, risk being detained. The growing consensus is that if these harsh deportation practices continue, they will severely damage the progress of science and medicine, especially in the United States.
Many people are also expressing their dissatisfaction online, as most believe this is just another example of the Trump administration targeting immigrants. “Welcome to the New Dark Ages,” one Reddit user remarked. Some users are also deeply concerned about the state of academia and science in the U.S., with one even warning that Trump’s administration will set the country back a decade in progress. One Redditor remarked,
“The point of this destruction is so that the next Democratic administration (assuming we ever get elections again) will need more than 8 years to reverse the damage. During that time, the country will continue to suffer, and Republicans can pretend Democrats are incompetent and unable to fix the damage. By then, half the voting population will have completely forgotten that it was their own candidate who caused all the damage.”
