Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration is seeking to deport a Harvard scientist to her home country of Russia, which she fled fearing political persecution, her lawyer told AFP Wednesday.

Kseniia Petrova, a researcher at Harvard Medical School, was detained by ICE in February upon returning to the US from a vacation in France.

According to a criminal complaint filed February 16, Petrova was stopped by customs officers at a Boston airport for allegedly failing to declare frog embryos she was bringing back for study.

She was subsequently told her visa was revoked and she would be sent back to Russia.

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"It is true, the government is trying to deport Kseniia," Gregory Romanovsky, Petrova's lawyer, said in an email to AFP.

"She will have an opportunity to present her asylum claim and we do not expect a decision on her deportation case anytime soon," he added.

According to the criminal complaint, Petrova told authorities she feared she would be arrested if she returned to Russia for her participation in political protests.

"We'll continue to fight for Kseniia's freedom, as well as her immigration status in the US," Romanovsky said.

Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has cracked down on immigration, pushing to step up deportations, including of non-US citizens in higher education.

The administration has moved to revoke visas and deport foreign students involved in protests against Israel's US-sponsored destruction of Gaza, while freezing hundreds of millions in funding for universities for ideological reasons.