Current Events > ICE creates fake university, arrests foreign students who signed up

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Antifar
11/27/19 11:02:37 AM
#1:


https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/11/27/ice-arrested-250-foreign-students-fake-university-metro-detroit/4277686002/
About 90 additional foreign students of a fake university in metro Detroit created by the Department of Homeland Security have been arrested in recent months.

A total of about 250 students have now been arrested since January on immigration violations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of a sting operation by federal agents who enticed foreign-born students, mostly from India, to attend the school that marketed itself as offering graduate programs in technology and computer studies, according to ICE officials.

Many of those arrested have been deported to India while others are contesting their removals. One has been allowed to stay after being granted lawful permanent resident status by an immigration judge.

The students had arrived legally in the U.S. on student visas, but since the University of Farmington was later revealed to be a creation of federal agents, they lost their immigration status after it was shut down in January. The school was located on Northwestern Highway near 13 Mile Road in Farmington Hills and staffed with undercover agents posing as university officials.

Out of the approximately 250 students arrested on administrative charges, "nearly 80% were granted voluntary departure and departed the United States," the Detroit office of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) told the Free Press in a statement Tuesday.

Out of the remaining 20%, about half of them have received a final order of removal; some of them were ordered removed by an immigration judge, and others "were given an expedited removal by U.S. Customs and Border Protection," said HSI Detroit.

The remaining 10% "have either filed for some sort of relief or are contesting their removals with Executive Office for Immigration Review," said HSI Detroit.

ICE said in March that 161 students had been arrested, which has now increased to about 250.

Meanwhile, seven of the eight recruiters who were criminally charged for trying to recruit students have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced in Detroit, including Prem Rampeesa, 27, last week. The remaining one is to be sentenced in January.

Attorneys for the students arrested said they were unfairly trapped by the U.S. government since the Department of Homeland Security had said on its website that the university was legitimate. An accreditation agency that was working with the U.S. on its sting operation also listed the university as legitimate.

There were more than 600 students enrolled at the university, which was created a few years ago by federal law enforcement officials with ICE. Records filed with the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) show that the University of Farmington was incorporated in January 2016.

Many of the students had enrolled with the university through a program known as Curricular Practical Training (CPT), which allows students to work in the U.S through a F-1 visa program for foreign students. Some had transferred to the University of Farmington from other schools that had lost accreditation, which means they would no longer be in immigration status and allowed to remain in the U.S.

Emails obtained by the Free Press earlier this year showed how the fake university attracted students to the university, which cost about $12,000 on average in tuition and fees per year.

Abolish ICE
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viewmaster_pi
11/27/19 11:03:34 AM
#2:


Illusion 100

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RdVEHfJqAvUPIbk
11/27/19 11:04:47 AM
#3:


I'm so confused so please correct me if I'm wrong on any points since y'know, Irish
So ICE is a government run agency, right?
They set up a fake university as a sting operation to catch illegals I assume.
All good.
But they... got foreign students to register, come to the US and then proceeded to deport them when the fake university was closed?
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Were_Wyrm
11/27/19 11:05:55 AM
#4:


This just sounds like a super villain scheme, do I live in a comic book now?
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Antifar
11/27/19 11:06:02 AM
#5:


RdVEHfJqAvUPIbk posted...
But they... got foreign students to register, come to the US and then proceeded to deport them when the fake university was closed?

They also collected tuition fees.
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RdVEHfJqAvUPIbk
11/27/19 11:07:11 AM
#6:


Antifar posted...
RdVEHfJqAvUPIbk posted...
But they... got foreign students to register, come to the US and then proceeded to deport them when the fake university was closed?

That's right!

I completely understand if they were doing this to illegal people in US already but this is literally like "hey we need a quota, let's entice people here then fuck them over so we did good to our boss"
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Umbreon
11/27/19 11:07:40 AM
#7:


So basically they made up a phoney uni, took money from people trying to make something themselves, and then later they shut it down and arrested even legal immigrants who have the right to be here?

One day, someone will get rid of ICE. That will be a glorious day.
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Antifar
11/27/19 11:08:09 AM
#8:


The U.S. "trapped the vulnerable people who just wanted to maintain (legal immigration) status," Rahul Reddy, a Texas attorney who represented or advised some of the students arrested, told the Free Press this week. "They preyed upon on them."

The fake university is believed to have collected millions of dollars from the unsuspecting students. An email from the university's president, named Ali Milani, told students that graduate programs' tuition is $2,500 per quarter and the average cost is $1,000 per month.

"They made a lot of money," Reddy said of the U.S. government.

No one has filed a lawsuit or claim against the U.S. government for collecting the money or for allegedly entrapping the students.

Attorneys for ICE and the Department of Justice maintain that the students should have known it was not a legitimate university because it did not have classes in a physical location. Some CPT programs have classes combined with work programs at companies.

"Their true intent could not be clearer," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Helms wrote in a sentencing memo this month for Rampeesa, one of the eight recruiters, of the hundreds of students enrolled. "While 'enrolled' at the University, one hundred percent of the foreign citizen students never spent a single second in a classroom. If it were truly about obtaining an education, the University would not have been able to attract anyone, because it had no teachers, classes, or educational services."

In the memo, federal prosecutor Baker said the case raises questions about the U.S. "foreign-student visa program."

Baker wrote that "immigration and visa programs have been hot-button topics in the United States for years and national scrutiny has only been increasing. Fairly or unfairly, Rampeesas conduct casts a shadow on the foreign-student visa program in general, and it raises questions as to whether the potential for abuse threatens to outweigh the benefits."

Reddy said, though, that in some cases, students who transferred out from the University of Farmington after realizing they didn't have classes on-site, were still arrested.

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#10
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RdVEHfJqAvUPIbk
11/27/19 11:09:31 AM
#11:


But ICE is an actual government agency, right?
Like not "government paid 50 million to hire scumbag company to enforce immigration laws"?

OctaviaMelody45 posted...
I'm not a fan on entrapment but this looks like it has results at least.

Hi hoth
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treewojima
11/27/19 11:09:38 AM
#12:


what a weird operation. I suspect it was partially just to raise money through tuition
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Garioshi
11/27/19 11:09:42 AM
#14:


Yeah, uh, abolish ICE.

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Chad-Henne
11/27/19 11:10:34 AM
#15:


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nemu
11/27/19 11:12:58 AM
#16:


I'm confused. Was it a legit university where they managed to catch people who then illegally overstayed their visas, or did they create a situation in which a bunch of people came over for nothing and then fucked them over?
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RdVEHfJqAvUPIbk
11/27/19 11:14:29 AM
#17:


nemu posted...
I'm confused. Was it a legit university where they managed to catch people who then illegally overstayed their visas, or did they create a situation in which a bunch of people came over for nothing and then fucked them over?

From what I understand it was created to catch current illegal people but then also recruited people from overseas then shut its doors, a lot of them left but a few stayed. But it's not an actual acredited one but it was treated as such, so they literally took their money for nothing
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Master_Bass
11/27/19 11:16:48 AM
#18:


What the hell? This is the weirdest scheme I've seen in some time. Whoever approved this should be fired, but of course that won't happen in this administration.
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#19
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Antifar
11/27/19 11:24:20 AM
#20:


RdVEHfJqAvUPIbk posted...
But ICE is an actual government agency, right?

For the time being.
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Antifar
11/27/19 11:24:38 AM
#21:


Master_Bass posted...
What the hell? This is the weirdest scheme I've seen in some time. Whoever approved this should be fired, but of course that won't happen in this administration.

This started in early 2016.
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Foppe
11/27/19 11:24:57 AM
#22:


nemu posted...
I'm confused. Was it a legit university where they managed to catch people who then illegally overstayed their visas, or did they create a situation in which a bunch of people came over for nothing and then fucked them over?
The second.
They created a fake university. Foreign students got VISAs to study there, and they paid tuition fees to the fake university.
Then ICE suddenly appeared, removed their rubber mask and said You thought you were studying at a real university, but it was me, Dio! And since this is not a real university, it means that your VISAs are no longer legal, so we will deport you from USA!
And then they laughed while walking to the bank with all the money.
https://youtu.be/TDgyoTspz34

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Paragon21XX
11/27/19 11:33:15 AM
#23:


These colleges usually market themselves on the down low to foreign students as a way to fulfill student visa requirements without actually spending time at school or doing coursework so that student visa holders can spend more time doing other things such as working a career full time while the college gets to collect on the student's financial aid for free. The sting operation was designed to mimic these fake schools.
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Umbreon
11/27/19 11:33:18 AM
#24:


I approve of how quickly post #9 was handled.
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RdVEHfJqAvUPIbk
11/27/19 11:34:26 AM
#25:


Umbreon posted...
I approve of how quickly post #9 was handled.

suspended too lol
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TheGoldenEel
11/27/19 11:34:56 AM
#26:


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WizardPowers
11/27/19 11:38:21 AM
#27:


viewmaster_pi posted...
Illusion 100


Lmao
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Garioshi
11/27/19 11:38:22 AM
#28:


Paragon21XX posted...
These colleges usually market themselves on the down low to foreign students as a way to fulfill student visa requirements without actually spending time at school or doing coursework so that student visa holders can spend more time doing other things such as working a career full time while the college gets to collect on the student's financial aid for free. The sting operation was designed to mimic these fake schools.
""""""sting operation""""""

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Antifar
11/27/19 11:39:50 AM
#29:


TheGoldenEel posted...
Why is this site posting this news from a year ago?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/31/ice-set-up-fake-university-hundreds-enrolled-not-realizing-it-was-sting-operation/?outputType=amp

Because
About 90 additional foreign students of a fake university in metro Detroit created by the Department of Homeland Security have been arrested in recent months.

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CableZL
11/27/19 11:49:08 AM
#30:


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CyricZ
11/27/19 11:50:01 AM
#31:


The cruelty is the point.

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#32
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DirkDiggles
11/27/19 11:53:52 AM
#33:


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cjsdowg
11/27/19 11:55:13 AM
#34:


I am not a fan of a illegal immigration. However this is wrong, the catch illegals who are trying to go to college my making a fake school. Then they top it off by literally recruiting people to come to the school so they could later kick them out.

Moreover they set up their website to the to look real. If this website was an EDU. That is saying that it is a real college. Students could have changed their plans to come there .
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Umbreon
11/27/19 11:58:31 AM
#35:


Also couldn't have born citizens wasted their money on this as well?
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Romulox28
11/27/19 11:59:18 AM
#36:


i dont get what is so bad about this. a bunch of people tried to get into the US through student visa fraud by joining a fake college, they get busted, they get sent back to their country. am i missing something here?
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Hanky_Bannister
11/27/19 12:01:03 PM
#37:


RdVEHfJqAvUPIbk posted...
Umbreon posted...
I approve of how quickly post #9 was handled.

suspended too lol

damn i missed it
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#38
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#39
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#40
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Romulox28
11/27/19 12:09:07 PM
#41:


shockthemonkey posted...
Romulox28 posted...
i dont get what is so bad about this. a bunch of people tried to get into the US through student visa fraud by joining a fake college, they get busted, they get sent back to their country. am i missing something here?

They were given student visas and assumed they were going to a real school. They were only here illegally because their student visas werent valid because it wasnt a real school.

according to the wikipedia article there were no instructors, no classes, there wasnt even a campus (streetview of the school is an office building on a highway lol). so it seems like most of them enrolled in this phony college just for the visa, they had no intention of actually studying there. whole thing seems like an obvious racket to me (and it was), although I guess maybe there were a few very gullible people that somehow did not notice what this whole operation was about.
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#42
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Solid Sonic
11/27/19 12:12:42 PM
#43:


Honestly Im impressed at the ballsy-ness of that.

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Zikten
11/27/19 12:13:01 PM
#44:


I don't understand how this is legal. or moral. wtf

this makes no sense
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Solid Sonic
11/27/19 12:13:44 PM
#45:


Zikten posted...
I don't understand how this is legal. or moral. wtf

this makes no sense


Its probably not legal but who gives a shit about ethics and morality in governing?

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SuperMariano3
11/27/19 12:14:37 PM
#46:


So where does that money the government took go to?
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Zikten
11/27/19 12:15:07 PM
#47:


SuperMariano3 posted...
So where does that money the government took go to?


Trump's golf fund
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Blue_Inigo
11/27/19 12:19:16 PM
#48:


shockthemonkey posted...
Romulox28 posted...
shockthemonkey posted...
Romulox28 posted...
i dont get what is so bad about this. a bunch of people tried to get into the US through student visa fraud by joining a fake college, they get busted, they get sent back to their country. am i missing something here?

They were given student visas and assumed they were going to a real school. They were only here illegally because their student visas werent valid because it wasnt a real school.

according to the wikipedia article there were no instructors, no classes, there wasnt even a campus (streetview of the school is an office building on a highway lol). so it seems like most of them enrolled in this phony college just for the visa, they had no intention of actually studying there. whole thing seems like an obvious racket to me (and it was), although I guess maybe there were a few very gullible people that somehow did not notice what this whole operation was about.

This is pretty bad justification. After the fact saying they should have known better instead of just admitting that this isnt a thing the government should be doing?

Not to mention that the "university" was also accredited
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Foppe
11/27/19 12:19:56 PM
#49:


SuperMariano3 posted...
So where does that money the government took go to?
Black Budget.

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Romulox28
11/27/19 12:20:14 PM
#50:


shockthemonkey posted...
Romulox28 posted...
shockthemonkey posted...
Romulox28 posted...
i dont get what is so bad about this. a bunch of people tried to get into the US through student visa fraud by joining a fake college, they get busted, they get sent back to their country. am i missing something here?

They were given student visas and assumed they were going to a real school. They were only here illegally because their student visas werent valid because it wasnt a real school.

according to the wikipedia article there were no instructors, no classes, there wasnt even a campus (streetview of the school is an office building on a highway lol). so it seems like most of them enrolled in this phony college just for the visa, they had no intention of actually studying there. whole thing seems like an obvious racket to me (and it was), although I guess maybe there were a few very gullible people that somehow did not notice what this whole operation was about.

This is pretty bad justification. After the fact saying they should have known better instead of just admitting that this isnt a thing the government should be doing?

it seems like "Hank Hill buying crack because he thinks it's fishing bait" level of naivete imo, borders on unbelievable. who signs up for a graduate program in another country and then travels across the planet without even so much as enrolling in a single course? cmon
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Hanky_Bannister
11/27/19 12:20:51 PM
#51:


is this not entrapment?

either way its morally repugnant.
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Loud_Pipes
11/27/19 12:21:00 PM
#52:


Romulox28 posted...
it seems like "Hank Hill buying crack because he thinks it's fishing bait" level of naivete imo, borders on unbelievable. who signs up for a graduate program in another country and then travels across the planet without even so much as enrolling in a single course? cmon


People who were coming to work under the table and abuse the system
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