Farmington Hills Fake University Set Up By ICE To Nab Foreign Students

ICE just became my favorite behind the five branches of the Military:

The Department of Homeland Security set up a fake university in Farmington Hills to target foreign students who wanted to stay in the U.S. without proper authorization, according to federal indictments unsealed in Detroit on Wednesday. 

Eight people were arrested and indicted in an immigration fraud case for conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harboring aliens for profit, said the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Matthew Schneider. Six of them were arrested in metro Detroit, one in Florida and another in Virginia. 

The students enrolled at the fake university with the intent to obtain jobs under a student visa program called CPT (Curricular Practical Training) that allows students to work in the U.S., said prosecutors. 

An indictment says the defendants helped at least 600 “foreign citizens to illegally remain, re-enter and work in the United States and actively recruited them to enroll in a fraudulent school as part of a ‘pay to stay’ scheme.” 

The indictments were filed Jan. 15 and unsealed Wednesday. They allege that from February 2017 through January 2019, the defendants “conspired with each other and others to fraudulently facilitate hundreds of foreign nationals in illegally remaining and working in the United States by actively recruiting them to enroll into a metro Detroit private university that, unbeknownst to the conspirators, was operated by HSI (Homeland Security Investigation) special agents as part of an undercover operation.” 

HSI is an investigative arm of U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), part of the Department of Homeland Security. We are all aware that international students can be a valuable asset to our country, but as this case shows, the well-intended international student visa program can also be exploited and abused,” said Schneider in a statement. 

The fake university is located on Northwestern Highway, just south of 13 Mile Road. Its website touts itself as a credible university, saying: “Located in the heart of the automotive and advanced manufacturing center of Southeast Michigan, the University of Farmington provides students from throughout the world a unique educational experience. Our dynamic business administration and STEM curriculum allows students to rapidly apply their knowledge; preparing them to succeed in an ever-globalizing economy.” 

But the university was staffed with undercover agents working with the Department of Homeland Security. In order to study in the U.S., students must get certain types of visas and approval from universities authorized by the Department of Homeland Security. 

After obtaining an F-1 visa, the student has to stay enrolled and maintain progress toward a degree; if not, they have to leave the U.S. within 60 days. 

The indictments say the operation allowed students to stay in the U.S. without proper visas. The U.S. alleges the students who enrolled “knew that they would not attend any actual classes, earn credits or make academic progress toward an actual degree,” read an indictment. 

“Each student knew that the University’s program was not approved by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was illegal, and that discretion should be used when discussing the program with others.”