A PhD student with just year left for completing his doctorate degree at BYU (in the state of Utah), was informed that his student visa had been revoked. Suguru Onda from Japan must leave the U.S. by the end of the month along with his wife and children (he has 5 children, 2 of whom were born in the U.S.). In a television interview he gave, he feels this is unfair.
The reason his attorney found was due to a criminal records check showing “alleged criminal activity” which ended up being two past speeding citations and a fishing violation. These are effectively minor violations when compared to the lawless criminal activity Trump and many of his associates (who are convicted felons) have committed.
His attorney also determined that this revocation letter was sent out automatically by an automated process with no review by a human. He has filed a TRO to challenge the revocation. This regime has pushed the “any criminal/illegal activity” angle though when it comes to racial targeting those they want to deport or be able to scare into self-deporting. Onda as a Japanese national, would fit that racial profiling part. This is of course separate from the many other reasons including having views that do not align with the regime (where the ICE GESTAPO has kidnapped and detained individuals without any due process).
Onda has more immediate worries though of having to potentially meet that end of the month deadline to self-deport himself and his family and then possibly being unable to complete his PhD.
With Trump defying a Supreme Court ruling, the U.S. is very rapidly descending into a fascist autocratic dictatorship that will have no checks and balances (the Republican controlled Congress has pretty much refused to hold the executive branch in check which includes a now corrupted Department of Justice since Attorney General Pam Bondi is not upholding the rule of law and is instead, protecting the ones in power from being held criminally accountable). With nearly no way for these court orders to be enforced by Federal law enforcement, it’s now only a matter of time before our Constitutional rights are rolled back or selectively applied.
