Rishi Kumar, the Indian-origin CEO of AI startup EthosAI has come in support of deportation of the Columbia University’s Indian student Ranjani Srinivasan. A fifth year PhD student, Ranjani fled to Canada recently after she got int of her imminent arrest as the tempers were running high following the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil whom the administration is preparing to deport. Srinivasan is said to have self-deported herself after she her student visa was revoked. America is planning to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who became a leader of pro-Palestinian protests on the campus. He was arrested on March 8 and immigration officials said that they were seeking to deport him under a provision of federal law that gives the US secretary of state the power to deport someone if their presence in the country is deemed to “have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”.
The CBP Home app has been developed by the US Customs and Border Protection which allows individuals illegally staying in the country to express their “intent to deport”. After Srinivasan’s visa was canceled on March 5, for alleged support of Hamas, she reportedly used the app on March 11 to process her departure.
What Silicon Valley’s Indian-origin CEO said on Ranjani Srinivasan’s deportation
In a post on Twitter, startup CEO Rishi Kumar, who is lso an executive board member of the California Democratic Party and ran in an election, supported Ranjani’s visa revocation and said that this should be a warning for all international students. “@Columbia ‘s Indian student, Ranjini Srinivasan shouldn’t have been participating in campus rallies in support of Hamas and the violence of October 6th. International students: Remember that studying in the US is a privilege. Be mindful of your actions & speech. Supporting designated terrorist organizations can lead to visa revocation, as seen with Columbia’s Ranjani Srinivasan who self-deported after her visa was canceled. #StudentVisaAlert,” wrote Rishi Kumar.
He quoted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem post, that showed a video of Ranjani fleeing to Canada with her few belongings. “It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live & study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country. I’m glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to self deport,” read Noem’s post.
In an interview with the New York Times later, Ranjani said that she did not initially understand why her visa was revoked leading her university to withdraw her enrollment.