Trump administration reinstates Carnegie Mellon University student's legal status and thousands of others
The Trump administration has reinstated the legal status of a Carnegie Mellon University student from China who lost it weeks ago, along with thousands of other international students at schools across the country.
Two current CMU students lost their legal status, along with five recent graduates — meaning they were all suddenly in the U.S. unlawfully. Jayson Ma was one of the two current students implicated. His status was revoked with just one full semester left before he expected to finish his engineering degree.
"He's very happy," his lawyer, Joseph Patrick Murphy, said about the reinstatement. "We all are happy that cooler heads prevailed in the end. But there's also that lingering fear, because the notice from the school that the record had reinstated came with the maybe- not-so-reassuring notice that 'we'll be monitoring this every day to make sure it doesn't happen again,' so that even the institution retains the fear that this could go back into that status again."
The Trump administration's original effort appeared to target foreign students with minor legal infractions, some of which had been dismissed, according to court records. Murphy said Ma was never convicted of a crime.
"Even if they've been convicted, it wouldn't have justified doing what the government did," Murphy said. "This is a terrifying thing, because he never had any notice, any chance to say his part in the case."
Dozens of lawsuits had been filed against the Trump administration over the legal status case. Judges sided with students in almost all of the cases.
The administration says it is reactivating the students' legal status as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement finalizes a policy that will govern future cancellations.
"The continuing concern is that they did something that they couldn't do, something that if you asked me about two months ago, I would have told you that's impossible," Murphy said. "So, how can I tell people it remains to be impossible when I now know that it is."
"I think this is like a bandage over a gaping wound," said CMU student Heidi Johnson, who has classes with one of the students impacted. "I think that we are quickly devolving into a fascist state, and this is just like trying to remedy a situation until I feel like they can have a permanent outcome."
Ma has been unable to visit his mother, who is dying of cancer, in China.
Murphy said with the reinstatement, he should be able to visit his mother, but there is still the potential that his status could be revoked while he is back in China, meaning he would not be able to return for classes.
"It's a difficult situation," Murphy said. "(His mother earlier) told him don't come back. Don't worry about her. Just get your degree."
Ma moved to the U.S. while he was in high school in 2016.
