[rad-green] ICE arrests 90 more students at fake university in Michigan

*https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/11/27/ice-arrested-250-foreign-students-fake-university-metro-detroit/4277686002/
<https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/11/27/ice-arrested-250-foreign-students-fake-university-metro-detroit/4277686002/>Detroit
Free Press          Nov. 27, 2019ICE arrests 90 more students at fake
university in Michigan*

*By Niraj Warikoo*

[image: image.png]

ICE has arrested about 250 students who were enrolled at a fake university
in Farmington Hills set up by ICE to lure in students. Tanya Wildt, Detroit
Free Press


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
<https://www.freep.com/story/news/2019/02/04/university-of-farmington-entrapment-ice/2767401002/>
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.
[image: This is the building at 30500 Northwestern Hwy. in Farmington Hills
south of 13 Mile Rd. that was used as the fake University of Farmington
campus created by the Department of Homeland Security as part of a sting
operation targeting foreign students, seen on Thursday, February 7, 2019,
in Farmington Hills.]

This is the building at 30500 Northwestern Hwy. in Farmington Hills south
of 13 Mile Rd. that was used as the fake University of Farmington campus
created by the Department of Homeland Security as part of a sting operation
targeting foreign students, seen on Thursday, February 7, 2019, in
Farmington Hills. (Photo: Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press)


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.
<https://www.freep.com/story/news/2019/01/30/farmington-university-immigrant-arrests/2724992002/>
The
school was located on Northwestern Highway near 13 Mile Road in Farmington
Hills and staffed with undercover agents posing as university officials.
<https://www.freep.com/story/news/2019/02/11/emails-reveal-how-university-lured-students-fake-farmington-university/2744103002/>

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.

*['It was a pleasure speaking with you': Emails reveal how university
portrayed itself to potential students. Read more here.]
<https://www.freep.com/story/news/2019/02/11/emails-reveal-how-university-lured-students-fake-farmington-university/2744103002/>*

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
<https://www.freep.com/story/news/2019/02/11/emails-reveal-how-university-lured-students-fake-farmington-university/2744103002/>
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.

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.
[image: University of Farmington office in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Photo taken in 2017.]

University of Farmington office in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Photo taken
in 2017. (Photo: Matt Friedman/Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications)


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, Rampeesa’s 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.
[image: Admissions section of the website of the University of Farmington,
a fake university created by ICE and Dept. of Homeland Security. It reads:
"We are very excited about welcoming you to the UF community and helping
you"]

Admissions section of the website of the University of Farmington, a fake
university created by ICE and Dept. of Homeland Security. It reads: "We are
very excited about welcoming you to the UF community and helping you" (Photo:
Department of Homeland Security)


Rampeesa was sentenced Nov, 19 to one year in prison by Judge Gershwin
Drain of U.S. District Court in Detroit. With time already served of 295
days, he should be out in about two to three months, and will then be
deported to India, said his attorney Wanda Cal. He pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harbor aliens for profit.

Detroit ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls said the other recruiters sentenced so
far are Barath Kakireddy, 29, of Lake Mary, Florida, 18 months; Suresh
Kandala, 31, of Culpeper, Virginia, 18 months; Santosh Sama, 28, of
Fremont, California, 24 months; Avinash Thakkallapally, 28, of Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, 15 months; Aswanth Nune, 26, of Atlanta, Georgia, 12
months; Naveen Prathipati, 26, of Dallas, Texas, 12 months.

Phanideep Karnati, 35, of Louisville, Kentucky, is to be sentenced in
January.

In court, Rampeesa's attorney, Cal, said his client had no criminal record
and came from a rural background in India.

He was trying to "help his family back home," Cal said before Judge Drain.
"My client is very remorseful. He is really a good person caught up in a
bad situation."

Rampeesa arrived in the U.S. legally a few years ago on a student visa and
earned in 2016 a master's degree in computer science at Northwestern
Polytechnic University. But the university later lost its accreditation,
which put his immigration status in jeopardy. He had spent $40,000 in
tuition and fees for his studies at the university.

"He was desperate to find a way to stay in the United States,"
Rampeesa's attorney, Cal, wrote in his sentencing memo. He wanted to get a
Ph.D. in computer science, she said.

Rampeesa then met Sama, who recruited him to attend the University of
Farmington and told him he could get tuition credits if he recruited other
students, Cal said.

Sama and Rampeesa were working with people they thought were university
officials, but were actually undercover agents for the Department of
Homeland Security.

"My client has no other criminal history, not even a traffic ticket,"
Cal said in court last week.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Baker said in court that Rampeesa was "aware it was
completely fake," that "it was just for maintaining status."

"He chose the University of Farmington for a reason," Baker said of
Rampeesa.

In calling for a sentence of 24 to 30 months, Baker said: "It's important
to send a message ... this type of crime will not be tolerated."

Accompanying Baker in the court last week was Assistant U.S.
Attorney Ronald Waterstreet, who helped prosecute the case.
[image: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken offline the
website of the University of Farmington, which it had created for a sting
operation. The website was taken down on Jan. 31, 2019 after a federal
indictment was unsealed on Jan. 30. The website for the fake university now
contains a logo for the investigative unit of ICE and reads: "The
University of Farmington has been closed by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement."]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken offline the website of
the University of Farmington, which it had created for a sting operation.
The website was taken down on Jan. 31, 2019 after a federal indictment was
unsealed on Jan. 30. The website for the fake university now contains a
logo for the investigative unit of ICE and reads: "The University of
Farmington has been closed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement." (Photo: Dept. of Homeland
Security)


Judge Drain sentenced him to 1 year, but he will be released in two to
three months because of time served, and then deported.

Drain said of Rampeesa: "You don't have any criminal history. ... I don't
think you're a danger to the public."

Rampeesa received a shorter sentence than Sama because he was not
recruiting other students for cash, but for tuition credits provided by the
university, Judge Drain said.

Rampeesa wrote a letter to the court pleading for leniency that was read
before the judge. A Telugu-speaking translator was at his side in court,
translating the courtroom proceedings. Most of the students were from
Telugu-speaking regions of India in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

He said he was trying in the U.S. after his previous university's loss of
accreditation made his master's degree "worthless."

"I am ashamed," Rampeesa wrote. "I made a very bad decision" to recruit
students that "bought shame to my family name."

*Contact Niraj Warikoo: [email protected] <[email protected]> or
313-2234792. Twitter @nwarikoo*

-- 

--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sid-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sid-l/CACKppcxNSt2gZ7xbvr_gzVD0R4T2fmqbxqVkk5GwUWLa-QVBAw%40mail.gmail.com.

---
To unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>