BYU Student Suguru Onda's Visa Revocation and Reinstatement: A Case Study in International Student Status
Introduction
The story of Suguru Onda, a Brigham Young University (BYU) Ph.D. student from Japan, highlights the complexities and potential pitfalls international students face while studying in the United States. Onda's experience, involving a sudden visa revocation and subsequent reinstatement, brings to light the often opaque processes governing student visas and the potential impact of minor legal infractions on immigration status.
The Initial Revocation
Suguru Onda, a husband and father of five, had been studying at BYU for six years, working towards his doctorate in computer science. He was reportedly a year away from earning his BYU doctorate in computer science. Outside of a couple of speeding tickets, Onda had experienced only one legal hiccup during his time in the United States: a 2019 fishing outing with his Latter-day Saint church group. Onda was cited for harvesting more fish than his fishing license allowed during a 2019 outing with his Latter-day Saint church group. The fishing charge was later dismissed, according to his attorney.
Despite the dismissal, Onda received notice that his student visa was being revoked. The termination reason on Onda’s visa revocation notice, said, “Otherwise failing to maintain status.” And the explanation said, “Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their visa revoked, service record has been terminated.” He was counted among the two dozen or more international students attending Utah colleges and universities who had their visa revoked in recent weeks. He was given 15 days to return to Japan or else he would be deported.
Onda expressed his surprise to the Deseret News, stating he was seeing so much news about student visa revocations but didn’t expect it to happen to him.
The Fishing Incident and Potential AI Involvement
Onda’s attorney, Adam Crayk, explained that his client went on a 2019 fishing activity with his Latter-day Saint ward. He didn’t catch a fish, but because he was the organizer or the face of the activity, Onda was cited for harvesting more than their license permitted. Onda went to court, but the prosecutor dismissed the charge.
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Crayk believed that the church fishing incident, despite the charge being dismissed, linked Onda’s name with a potential criminal case and led to his international student visa being flagged and revoked. Crayk suspects the reason for Onda’s visa revocation was an AI software that flagged his fishing citation, although Onda, who researches AI and technology development, did not blame the AI. He said AI isn’t perfect and that it makes mistakes. Crayk said he’s learned through court filings that the government is using AI technology to locate any criminal activity amongst student visa holders and revoke their visas.
Crayk suggested that AI software may have mistakenly terminated the visa.
Community Support and University Response
Following the revocation notice, BYU told Onda he could work remotely on his dissertation if he had to leave the Provo campus. Onda said he was planning to stay in the United States for at least a few years after graduation. He added his family felt the support of their local congregation. “A lot of families have reached out to me and brought us food and tried to offer help,” Onda said. “We couldn’t do this without their help - so I really appreciate all of the community, and especially for the church.”
Governor Cox's Inquiry
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said on Thursday that his office had reached out to the Trump administration for more information about the dozens of international students at Utah campuses who have recently had their visas revoked. “We’ve asked them to give us a little bit of a heads-up when these things are happening. We’d like to understand better what the criteria are for those changes,” Cox said.
The governor noted that some of the international students had criminal backgrounds “that we were not aware of; that the universities were not aware of.” For other impacted students, he added, “that does not appear to be the case - and so we would very much like to figure that out.” Cox said in the past that President Donald Trump has talked about the importance of attracting “the most talented and brightest” from other countries to the United States.
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Visa Reinstatement and Legal Action
After the revocation notice, BYU told Onda he could work remotely on his dissertation if he had to leave the Provo campus. Onda and others filed a lawsuit, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, that challenged deportation orders.
Suguru Onda got word Friday about the change, his immigration attorney Adam Crayk told KSL TV.“He is reinstated as if it was never revoked,” Crayk said. However, immigration officials did not contact Onda or his attorney directly; instead, Brigham Young University learned about the visa reinstatement first. “Look, I would love to say the reason was the lawsuit,” Crayk told ABC4.com. “Do I have that 100%? No.
Gratitude and Moving Forward
According to The Deseret News, Onda expressed gratitude to everyone who supported him. He thanked the government for looking at his case again. There was no bitterness, just gratitude.
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tags: #byu #student #suguru #onda #visa #revocation
