
ICE Ran Fake College to Target Undocumented Immigrants - laurex
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-ran-fake-college-to-target-undocumented-immigrants
======
belltaco
They weren't "undocumented". They all had valid student visas from a different
school, were present in the US legally. They wanted to transfer out to a
school that allowed them to use Optional Practical Training to work but
without needing to attend classes, which is a violation of immigration law.

The ironic thing was this sham school was in the list of the DHS certified
list of schools eligible to enroll international students. While they did this
to help the investigation, what credibility does that list have any more?

Instead of running sting ops with fake colleges to go after students, they
should run sting ops with fake students to go after colleges that violate
rules and recruiters.

~~~
chrismeller
Do you have a source for this? None of that was mentioned in this article...

~~~
belltaco
> The Department of Homeland Security’s list of certified schools where
> international students can enroll includes the University of Farmington.

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/31/ice-set-
up-...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/31/ice-set-up-fake-
university-hundreds-enrolled-not-realizing-it-was-sting-
operation/?utm_term=.ee509340f6f4)

> Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for ICE in Detroit, told local news station WXYZ
> that the students had entered the United States legally on F-1 visas after
> being accepted to legitimate schools and had later transferred to the
> University of Farmington

~~~
chrismeller
Ugh. That WaPost article should be what we’re linking. The TDB article was
next to meaningless.

------
chrismeller
> “Each of the foreign citizens who ‘enrolled’ and made ‘tuition’ payments to
> the University knew that they would not attend any actual classes, earn
> credits, or make academic progress toward an actual degree,” one indictment
> reads. “Rather, their intent was to fraudulently maintain their student visa
> status and to obtain work authorization.”

Did I miss something? How exactly did they know that?

Given purely what is in this article, it doesn’t sound at all inconceivable to
me that someone might actually register and pay (or even show up at?) the
school expecting to take a class. That’s kind of the point of a good front...
it looks legitimate.

------
mtgx
The entirety of DHS is the embodiment of "mission creep."

~~~
java-man
assuming the stated mission is the real one.

if you follow the history since 9/11, you might realize what the real mission
is.

~~~
Gaelan
Please, do tell.

~~~
java-man
do analyze their actions.

