ICE Creates Fake University: DHS Sting

Under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security, a special investigation ICE task force created a fake University to catch foreign students trying to stay in the United States using the ‘Day 1 CPT’ program. Through a bogus online presence and fake office front, the University of Farmington had all the trappings of a real educational institution. However, the fake university had no staff, no instructors, no curriculum, and no classes. Last week, “students” of, and recruiters from, this bogus university were arrested and indicted for conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harboring aliens for profit. These individuals now face the possibility of deportation.

ICE Operation

Since 2015, Homeland Security agents have posed as owners and employees of the University of Farmington. The fake university scheme attempted to lure those students who wished to work while going to school as well as those recruiters that assist fraudulent F-1 students in obtaining university documents. According to the indictment, the university was used by foreign nationals as a “pay to stay” scheme which allowed individuals to remain in the United States by falsely asserting they were full-time students at Farmington University. The operation maintained a shell office in Michigan, the address which was used to maintain false immigration documentation.

Exposing an Exploitation Network

Those arrested in the indictment last week included individuals involved in a nation-wide network of recruiters that assisted fraudulent students in obtaining false records including:

• fake student records;
• fake transcripts;
• falsified statements.

These recruiters named in the indictment charged heavy fees to hundreds of foreign nationals so that they could remain in the United States. By portraying these foreign nationals as students of the University of Farmington, the recruiter network made over a quarter of a million dollars as per the newspaper reports. The profitable network owed its success to the exploitation of foreign nationals wishing to stay in the United States. However, it is unclear if any of the participants of the scheme were aware that the University of Farmington was a fake University.

The indictment comes after a wave of initiatives out of the Department of Homeland Security to maintain the legitimacy of visa programs, like student visa programs. The Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge noted that ICE will be “vigilant to ensure the integrity of the U.S. immigration laws and will continue to investigate this and other transnational crimes.”