The Obama administration seems to be in a rush to deport a Russian immigrant who may have witnessed the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) shooting of her Chechen roommate who was interviewed in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings.

Tatiana Gruzdeva, 19, from Russia, was arrested on May 16 for overstaying her visa. She had been living with Ibragim Todashev, whom the FBI questioned about his connection with Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

During the questioning, an FBI agent shot and killed Todashev.

The FBI has not explained what happened. Some media sources reported Todashev attacked the agent with a knife, while others reported that he was unarmed or that he threatened the agent with a metal pole or a broomstick.

It was also reported that Todashev was preparing to sign a confession implicating himself and Tsarnaev in the 2011 killings of three men in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Immigration officials had originally planned to deport Gruzdeva by July 1. Officials then decided to postpone it until the end of the month.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is conducting its own review of the Todashev shooting, has complained about the government’s plans to deport Gruzdeva so quickly.

“We’re extremely interested in speaking to her and seeing what she has to say,” Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Florida Council of Islamic Relations at Tampa, told the Boston Globe. “We’re very curious as to why the government’s put so many impediments, in trying to get her out of the country as soon as possible. There’s a very good likelihood that she has important information.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Potential Witness must be Jailed until Leaving US (by Maria Sacchetti, Boston Globe)

Potential Witness gets Stay extended (by Nicholas Jacques, Boston Globe)

When FBI Shoots Someone, It’s Always Justified…According to the FBI (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)