A UB student that has been in a U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) facility at Louisiana for a month and a half will be departing back to China at an indeterminate date.
Jiaye You, a senior fine arts major, was granted a voluntary departure for China during an asylum hearing held virtually Wednesday morning at Oakdale Immigration Court.
A voluntary departure is a process that allows individuals to leave the U.S. on their own expense within a set time frame to avoid a deportation order, which if issued, may prevent someone from coming to the U.S. for up to ten years. After a voluntary departure, one may be eligible for a visa to return, and family members living in the U.S. may be able to request reentry on their behalf.
You had asked whether paying for his own travel would make it faster, to which Judge Jacob Bashore — who denied You’s bond March 30 — said he didn’t know.
“I don’t know if it makes it faster or slower,” Bashore told You. “You just have to be willing to pay for your own travel if you want a voluntary departure.”
You’s asylum hearing comes a month and a half after his detainment by ICE after a routine immigration hearing early March. His immigration status has not been disclosed to The Spectrum.
You declined to speak on the record to The Spectrum Thursday afternoon.
The asylum hearing was originally scheduled for 10:30 A.M. Monday, April 20, but was rescheduled to Wednesday due to “connectivity issues” and a reappointment of judges, Bashore told You’s family, Matt Kenyon — You’s arts professor — and The Spectrum at 2 P.M. on Monday.
“Ultimately, his facility didn't call in this morning so we couldn't do his case,” Bashore said Monday. “I didn't see his attorney either. I don't know if they had that same problem.”
Kaihsuan Ai, the lawyer that represented You at the hearing, did not respond to The Spectrum’s repeated requests for comment.
Seth Gilbertson, UB’s chief campus counsel who attended the hearing Wednesday, directed The Spectrum’s inquiries to university officials.
You remains a registered student for the spring semester, university officials said. The university will provide academic planning support to him in the coming weeks, but it is “too early to comment on the possibility of specific scenarios.”
Specific academic information and accommodations for individual students are withheld due to federal privacy laws, officials said.
“Like Jiaye’s family, classmates, friends and faculty, we wanted a better outcome in this case,” university officials wrote in a statement to The Spectrum. “The university will continue to stay in contact with Jiaye and his family during this difficult time and will provide personal and academic planning support, as appropriate.”
Aisha Adam, president of the undergraduate Student Association, called the departure “heartbreaking” and wanted to see a “more aggressive defense” for You from the university.
“It’s not fair that our international peers are being antagonized in this way,” Adam said. “The university is doing things to support him and his educational journey but the UB administration has a bad habit of advocating for people in the shadows, and it’s not what international students need right now.”
Mylien Lai contributed to the reporting of this article.
Beyonce Thomas-Reynoso is the podcast editor and can be reached at beyonce.thomas@ubspectrum.com.
Nadio Bangaroo is the assistant news editor and can be reached at nadia.bangaroo@ubspectrum.com.
Photo: Courtesy of Myanmar Student Association
