A government lawyer told a federal judge on Wednesday that the intention is to deport Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard researcher, to Russia.

Read the latest update on Kseniia Petrova’s case from May 15.

The Trump administration announced criminal smuggling charges on Wednesday against Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard scientist who was detained three months ago after failing to declare scientific samples she was carrying in her luggage.

In a hearing in federal district court earlier in the day, a government lawyer told a federal judge that the Trump administration intends to deport Ms. Petrova back to Russia, a country she fled in 2022, despite her fear that she will be arrested there over her history of political protest.

The moves represent an escalation in the government’s case against Ms. Petrova, which in recent weeks has drawn attention from scientists and academics around the world.

And it brought the government into conflict with the federal judge in Vermont, which scheduled a bail hearing for Ms. Petrova later this month, apparently setting the stage for her release.

Ms. Petrova has admitted that she failed to declare the samples, but her lawyer has argued that this would ordinarily be treated as a minor infraction, punishable with a fine. Instead, the customs official canceled Ms. Petrova’s J-1 visa on the spot and initiated deportation proceedings.

Christina Reiss, chief judge of the United States District Court in Vermont, repeatedly quizzed the government lawyers about their grounds for canceling Ms. Petrova’s visa and detaining her.