Columbia PhD Student Flees to Canada After Visa Revocation and ICE Visit

Student's Account of Events

• 🎓 Ranani Sasan, a Columbia University PhD student in urban planning, fled to Canada after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents visited her door.
• 📧 Sasan received an email stating her student visa had been revoked, but claims she was not given direct information linking her to any specific wrongdoing.
• 🗓️ She states she was out of the country during campus encampments and returned to the U.S. on April 30th, the same day students occupied Hamilton Hall.
• 🚶‍♀️ While trying to access her apartment that evening, she was detained with protesters and cited for minor offenses like obstructing the sidewalk, which were later dismissed.

Allegations and Disputations

• ⚠️ DHS claims Sasan's visa was revoked because she did not disclose the dismissed citations when renewing her student visa in December, a provision similar to that used for another graduate.
• 🚫 Sasan disputes allegations that she advocated for violence or terrorism, and specifically denies being a Hamas sympathizer, as accused by DHS Secretary Christine.
• 📹 A video circulating online, allegedly showing her supporting Hamas, has been denied by Sasan and her attorneys, who state it is not her.
• 🕊️ She states she has signed petitions for peace in Gaza and participated in protests like the Women's March, but not on campus during the encampments.

Decision to Leave the U.S.

• 😨 Sasan expressed fear after ICE agents came to her door without a warrant and her visa was revoked unexpectedly.
• ✈️ She stated she did not consider her departure a "self-deportation" but rather a response to being scared and having her visa revoked without clear explanation.
• ⚖️ Sasan is reportedly trying to fight to return to the U.S. to complete her studies.