Kseniia Petrova
Appearances
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
So if I will be sent back to Russia, I'm of course worried that I will be arrested and imprisoned because of my political opinion. And I won't have any chance to get out of jail there until the regime changes or until Putin dies, because nobody is released there. There is no judges there. There is no court. There is no law. Just President Putin and his madness.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
I mean, of course, it makes me afraid, feeling like I'm not really welcome here, feeling that everything can happen to me. And... America is not really interested to help me. I feel less safe than I was feeling before.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
It's like a life with 90 people in the same room. It's very noisy all the time. It's really hard to concentrate. It's hard to sleep sometimes. It's hard to think. You can't belong to yourself. You're always... Somebody is watching you.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
Yeah, hello. Hello, hello. I'm fine. I mean, as much as I can.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
The only thing which I really enjoy in my life is science and this is what I was dedicated to and I was spending almost all my time in the lab and I was interested in biology and I would like to become a good scientist someday. Not yet, but this is what I was trying to achieve.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
but we also were thinking to use it as a model to study aging and to study germ cell development. So this was also our point of interest.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
I was maybe working too much and I realized that my brain is very tired and they can't. And I decided to go on vacation and... I went to see a very beautiful pianist who was performing in Paris and I enjoyed so much. After this concert I really don't want to go to any other concerts because they won't be as good as this concert was.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
sometimes very, very important to know exactly how the procedure is made by the person who is making it. And I learned a lot, and I was very, very grateful to them. And we prepared very beautiful samples, which I was hoping to bring back.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
When I went to this luggage space, the man in the uniform came to me, asked if my name is Ksenia Petrova. I said, yes, it's me. And he said, he asked if I can go with him to search through my luggage.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
and they were looking through my bag and they took out the samples and was asking me all the questions about the samples, what are they from, what kind of species are these animals, what are they for, and I was answering all the questions and the officers were very polite. They were trying really to figure out what's going and why I brought the samples.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
We just had to have lunch, so we just came back to our dorm. A lot of noise and things are going.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
She was without uniform, she didn't tell me her name and what is her job and occupation. She just again started asking me the same questions and other questions, many, many questions, not in very polite form. And after this investigation, which she made, she told me that my visa is cancelled.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
I spoke with Ksenia over a video call. She was in a big room made of metal and concrete, filled with rows of bunk beds. Behind Ksenia, I could just make out dozens of people milling around, all seeming to wear the same khaki jumpsuit.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
She asked me if I'm afraid to be deported to my home country. I said that yes, I'm afraid to be deported to my home country.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
And after that, she said to me that I will be passed to ICE. And they put me in a cell in the airport for one night. And they didn't tell me anything about what will happen to me, what is going on. They didn't tell anybody. So after this, I was transferred to the detention in Louisiana. And I'm here almost two months. So this is how it happened.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
Some of Ksenia's new friends are also Russian. She told me about them as a guard shouted in the background. So my closest friends have a similar story. They came from Russia. There is no way for them to go to Russia back because they are afraid to be persecuted there. And they decided to come to the border and to come to CBP, saying that they are seeking for political asylum.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
And there they were arrested. And after that, they were transferred to different detentions. Then they were transferred again and again. And now they are all here.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
I mean, it's good luck and bad luck. Yeah.
The Journal.
How Frog Embryos Landed a Scientist in ICE Detention
The food is absolutely terrible. It's very, very unhealthy. It's like a really bad quality McDonald's food. The bed is attached to the floor, of course. Every furniture here is screwed to the floor. In the corner, we have our toilets, like bath space. There are toilets and shower. And the toilets are half open, so if you're standing there, half of you will be visible. Wow.