A Japanese PhD student at Brigham Young University (Utah) – an aspiring computer scientist – has joined the race against the Trump administration’s deportation efforts targetting international students. Suguru Onda and his small family comprising his wife and five children may soon have to depart from the United States in the wake of his student visa being revoked earlier this month.

The BYU PhD candidate broke his silence on the “unfair” happenings, telling ABC4.com that he wasn’t even notified about the sudden change in his immigration status. With little information on hand, Onda revealed he received an email from the university’s international student office informing him of the development. “The university didn’t get anything, I didn’t receive anything, so we just found out it is terminated.” The vague visa revocation notice merely stated, “Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their visa revoked, service record has been terminated,” as per Deseret News.

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In light of the recent unexpected unravelling, Onda’s higher studies also face an uncertain future as he is still one year away from his program completion. While most student visa revocations and detentions have launched an onslaught against campus activism, especially pro-Palestinian protests, this particular case takes an unprecedented turn.

Why Asian PhD student’s visa was revoked? Use of AI tech speculated

The Asian student’s lawyer Adam Crayk said his university cited his ‘criminal’ background as the reason for his visa being revoked. Two speeding tickets and a fishing citation – which was dismissed – from Onda’s history are now weighing down on his present and future in the country.

“This is no longer about politics,” Crayk told ABC4.com. “This is an issue about right or wrong.” The student’s attorney has considered the possibility of AI technology being used to formulate the decision surrounding Onda’s potential deportation. “Whether it’s tech, bot, algorithm, AI, they have a technology… there’s close to a million student visas, and so — for one person to monitor that it’s fairly difficult,” Crayk said. “But when you make a decision to revoke, you ought to at least have somebody check that.”

Suguru Onda’s church group’s fishing incident may get him deported

Laying out more details about the fishing incident in question, Crayk told Deseret News that Onda’s historic clash with the law dates back to a fishing trip with his church group in 2019. At the time, Suguru Onda reportedly harvested more fish than his fishing license allowed. What’s even more ludicrous is that the Japanese student didn’t catch the fish himself, rather he was only held responsible for the violation as he was overseeing the group.

With a muddy future raising questions about his educational pursuits and career, Onda is already “packing everything” in case he is ordered to exit the US. His case makes headlines the same week an Atlanta-based immigration law firm filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump on behalf of 133 international students who have been hit with visa revocations without being provided with a specific reason. Like Onda’s fishing license issue becoming a possible target, these students have also been dealt with uncertain fates with expired license plates and speeding tickets cited as the reason for imminent deportation.

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What’s next for the Japanese student facing deportation?

According to the Daily Mail, authorities have offered Suguru Onda two options. He could go back to Japan to request a new I-20 immigration form from BYU, or apply for an F-1 visa. Otherwise, he could wait for up to one year for his current visa’s re-validation.

Study in the States, an official website of the Department of Homeland Security, states all student visa applicants (F and M) studying in the US need a Form I-20, i.e. “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status. “Once accepted into Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)-certified school, international students will receive a Form I-20 from their designed school official (DSO),” the website explains further.

The official Travel.State.Gov website also notes, “If your spouse and/or children will live with you in the United States while you study, they must also enroll in SEVIS, obtain individual Form I-20s from the SEVP-approved school, and apply for a visa (but they do not pay the SEVIS fee).”