HMS Researcher Denies Lying To Border Patrol Officials

Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard Medical School researcher detained by Customs and Border Patrol officials in February, denied lying to authorities about the contents of her luggage in a Thursday statement.

“I never provided false information to any government official,” Petrova wrote.

Officials arrested Petrova in Boston Logan Airport after she allegedly failed to declare frog embryos she was attempting to bring into the country for her research. She has been detained in Louisiana for almost three months, with a growing list of lawmakers calling for her release.

Petrova wrote that during her primary inspection, she was admitted with her J-1 scholar visa and received an admission stamp in her passport. But she claims officials never asked if she had any “biological material” with her.

Petrova added that CBP officers inaccurately recorded she had been questioned about the contents of her baggage. But despite alerting officers to “that and other inaccuracies in the written statement,” Petrova claims the mistakes were not resolved.

“Some of my words were misunderstood and inaccurately reflected in the statement that the officer presented for my signature,” Petrova wrote.

“I pointed them out and asked the officer to make corrections,” she added. “I believed she was doing so as I saw her typing. Later, when I reviewed the document I signed, I realized the changes had not been made.”

She also wrote that officials may have been given a “misleading impression” of her because of text messages to her colleagues that authorities read and her “nervous laugh.”

“I am a nerdy 30-year-old scientist who typically works 10 to 12 hours a day,” she said. “I have a nervous laugh that sometimes makes people think I’m irreverent. It seems U.S. authorities took that as some indication that I was being disrespectful.”

A DHS spokesperson contradicted Petrova’s account in a statement to The Crimson, claiming she was “lying to federal officers.”

“A subsequent K9 inspection uncovered undeclared petri dishes, containers of unknown substances, and loose vials of embryonic frog cells, all without proper permits,” they wrote. “Messages found on her phone revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them. She knowingly broke the law and took deliberate steps to evade it."

Petrova clarified that she had brought the frog embryos from the Institut Curie in France at the request of her employer to “complete ongoing experiments in the United States.”

“Because these embryos are non-toxic, non-hazardous, and non-infectious, I did not expect any issues in bringing them into the country,” she wrote.

Petrova takes “full responsibility for not properly declaring the frog embryo samples” and wrote that she should have reviewed the requirements for bringing biological material into the U.S.

But Petrova admitted she was more concerned about the quality of the materials and successfully continuing her research.

“As a scientist, I was more focused on getting the samples to the lab before they degraded to ensure we could continue the experiment,” she wrote.

As she approaches her third month in custody, Petrova wrote that she is confused why she remains in the detention center.

“What I do not understand is why the American officials say I am being held because I am a danger to the community and a flight risk,” she wrote.

Petrova described the living conditions of her detention in a PBS interview last week, detailing an overcrowded facility without adequate heat and a lack of privacy.

“It’s 90 women in one room,” she said. “Almost all the space of the room is occupied by beds, which are staying really very close to each other. There is not any privacy here. Our bathroom space with shower and toilets is also in our room. It is always very cold inside. They’re keeping temperature low.”

Petrova’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 7, with a follow-up hearing date in July. The court will either order her release or her return to Russia, where she was arrested in 2022 for protesting against Russia’s war in Ukraine. Petrova previously said that she is scared to return to Russia, and lawmakers have warned against her deportation as it would “endanger her life.”

Petrova, who has conducted research in the country since May 2023, wrote that she is “sincerely grateful to the United States” for the opportunity pursue her work.

“I have had the privilege of working at one of the world’s leading universities, conducting biomedical research aimed at early cancer detection and saving lives,” she wrote.

Despite growing national concerns about her detainment, Petrova says her research remains her priority.

“I only want to be in the lab working on research,” she wrote. “That is my life’s purpose. That is what I’m all about.”

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.