PITTSBURGH — A local student is speaking out after his visa was revoked.
Jayson Ma is one of two current Carnegie Mellon students who got a call from the university saying the federal government is revoking his visa, and his records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.
“It’s not just my passport I’m packing with me... I made sure to pack my house last night, and clean the cat litter. I’m ready to leave if I have to,” Jayson Ma told Channel 11.
Ma, a Carnegie Mellon engineering student, doesn’t know what his future holds.
“Am I breaking the law by staying here illegally to finish school? Or do I have to leave immediately and sacrifice the degree I’ve been pursuing for the last three years?” Ma questioned.
Immigration attorney Joe Murphy is representing him, and says his client hasn’t received “official documentation” telling him to leave the US, so he is still attending classes.
“From what I can tell, the school has done an excellent job managing this,” Murphy told Channel 11.
Jayson has no criminal record, except a DUI that should have been expunged and dismissed after completing a program.
Just recently, CMU received a letter from the Trump Administration alleging that the Chinese government was embedding researchers in top American institutions to gain direct access to sensitive technologies.
Channel 11′s Gabriella DeLuca asked Jayson: “Do you think you’re being targeted because of this?
“I really don’t know,” he told her.
With the help of Murphy, Jayson’s one hope is to earn his college degree.
“I just want to leverage my degree and use my expertise and help the world, whether here or back home, I don’t care. That’s the whole point of being an engineer... Create solutions to problems that exist in the world,” he said.
Five recent CMU graduates also received the same notice as Jayson. A student and two recent graduates from the University of Pittsburgh also had their visas revoked.
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