90 students face deportation after they were arrested in a sting operation for abusing their visas. They had applied in a fake university set up by federal agents to lure those abusing their visas.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has set up a fake university to lure international students into abusing their student visas and then, arrest them. The fake university was also used to lure students who wanted to get into the US. The program has drawn a lot of criticism, especially from the left who have termed it as inhumane, cruel and appalling.
Number of students arrested and deported over 250
Since January, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested over 250 students who had applied there. Eighty percent of those detained have voluntarily been deported while the rest are waiting for trials and others challenging their arrests in courts.
The arrests were first reported by Detroit Free-Press, which put the total number of students arrested this year to 250 students. The press also reported that the majority of the students arrested were of Indian nationality.
The University of Farmington was set up in 2015 and admitted 600 students who were paying $12,000 per year. The school had no physical classrooms or teachers. Students also did not attend classes during their enrollment at the university.
Visa programs that allow students to work and study in the US
The students enrolled in the university were using visa programs that allow students to work and study in the US. These visas were issued by the DHS and students arrested were charged with abuse of the US visa by the prosecutor.
Before these arrested were made, DHS had already collected millions of dollars from the students. A process that has been criticized by the left and democratic presidential candidates field. Elizabeth warren condemned this move in a tweet by pointing out the DHS lied, extorted money from these students and then deported them.
https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1199770479189319681
This is not the first time the department has used the fake universities to lure students international students into arrests and deportation. They used the same tactic in 2016, where they arrested and charged 21 foreign nationals for visa fraud.
The department also arrested charged eight men for recruiting for the university. Out of the seven arrested, seven have already pledged guilty to the fraud charges and the eighth is expected to sentenced in December.
Featured image by Pixabay
