While there's room for debate over the amount of weight granted to certain "elite" higher education institutions in American culture, a student accepted to Harvard on scholarship that hails from overseas appears on all counts to classify as "their best," regardless of who "they" is meant to encompass. But then again, to read Trump's recent "merit-based" immigration proposal in good faith would be to ignore every other flashing sign he's offered, such as the 2018 crackdown on student visas that threatened three- and ten-year bans on reentering the country for those who overstayed their visas beyond six months. The deportation of people like Ajjawi is entirely the goal.

It was the goal when ICE established a fake university to trap and then deport over 600 immigrants. It was the goal for Ananya, a college student from wealthy India-born parents who was raised in America, who wrote in The Nation this April about being barred from holding a job and advancing in her field because of the archaic U.S. immigration system. It was the goal for the 18 unnamed University of Oklahoma international students who faced deportation when they couldn't afford their bursar fees. It was the goal for Evana Akter, a college student and nursing hopeful who was forced to abandon her promising career and return to Bangladesh when her father was deported last year.

To Harvard's credit, since being alerted to the situation, the university has committed itself to getting Ajjawi on campus by the start of classes on September 3, issuing a statement saying that the school is working to ensure Ajjawi "can join his classmates in the coming days." And because it's Harvard and because it's now a high-profile case, chances are that Ajjawi will be allowed back in the country and will join his classmates at some point this fall. But don't be fooled when the headline drops into your timeline announcing this victory. There are hundreds or likely thousands more just like him, and this administration still hopes to deport them all.