‘The case is done’: Immigration officials no longer seeking deportation of Utah violinist John Shin

SOUTH SALT LAKE — Federal officials are no longer pursuing the deportation of John Shin, the North Salt Lake violinist who made headlines in August after he was detained by U.S. immigration authorities in Colorado.

“That means the case is over, the case is done, that he’s not in deportation proceedings,” said Adam Crayk, his South Salt Lake-based attorney.

In fact, the man, a violinist originally from South Korea who has performed with the Utah Symphony and Ballet West, has submitted an application for legal permanent residency.

“We have applied for the green card through the normal route,” Crayk said, and Shin should secure formal U.S. residency status — a key step before he can apply for citizenship — within 13 months.

Shin was detained by immigration officials on Aug. 18 in Colorado while in the state for work and remained in custody for 17 days. He was to help with a telecommunications project at Fort Carson but was flagged by federal officials as he tried to enter the U.S. Army base near Colorado Springs due to discrepancies in federal records related to his migratory status. His wife, DaNae Snow, and the couple’s friends in the music community subsequently launched a very public campaign to get him released, garnering broad attention, and the man was let go on Sept. 4, though he still faced the potential threat of deportation.

The deadline for U.S. officials to appeal an immigration judge’s Sept. 8 order terminating the deportation case against Shin, however, came and went on Wednesday without action, meaning deportation efforts have come to an end.

Shin entered the country legally as a child, brought by his parents, and grew up in Utah. He had maintained his migratory status over the years, eventually securing standing to remain in the country under the Deferred Access for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. He lost that status after a 2019 conviction in Tooele County for driving while impaired due to alcohol consumption, however, which figured in his detention in August in Colorado. He married Snow, a U.S. citizen, in 2021, but never tried to rectify his migratory status.

Given Shin’s roots in Utah and what his backers saw as his standing as a contributing member of the community, his case, for them, exemplified the overreach of President Donald Trump’s expansive crackdown on illegal immigration. In a press conference after his release, Shin, for his part, noted his deep ties to the United States.

“I want people to know that I consider myself an American. This is my home,” Shin said. “I went to elementary school, middle school, high school and college here, and all the friends and families that I know, they live in Utah.”

In light of the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally, Crayk said Shin’s case illustrates the importance of immigration courts in serving as a check to such action. Shin isn’t the sort of immigrant that immigration officials should have been pursuing “because he had a clear path to residency and a clear path ultimately to become a citizen.”