ICE arrests 90 more students at fake university in Michigan
Niraj WarikooUpdated 11:50 a.m. ET Dec. 11, 2019
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 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.
shut down in January. The school was located on Northwestern Highway near 13 Mile Road in Farmington Hills and staffed with undercover agents posing as university officials.
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.]
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; the 250 arrests took place from January to July, said an ICE spokesperson.
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.
More: ICE arrests more students at fake university, others being removed from US
More: Attorney: Fake Farmington university sting by ICE was entrapment
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 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.
Reddy said that two of the students who were sent back to India through a voluntary departure agreement with ICE were denied entry into the U.S. after they tried to reenter this year.
becoming a subscriber of the Detroit Free Press.
Northwestern Polytechnic University's San Francisco attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, in a letter to the Free Press contended that “NPU (Northwestern Polytechnic University) did not lose its accreditation.” She said that an accrediting agency which had accredited NPU, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (“ACICS”), “was derecognized by the Department of Education,” but that “ultimately, a federal district court determined that the DOE’s decision to derecognize ACICS was improper and, subsequently, the DOE reinstated recognition of ACICS retroactively from the date of derecognition ….”
Rampeesa ultimately 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.
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: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-2234792. Twitter @nwarikoo.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comments from NPU’s attorney.
Niraj WarikooUpdated 11:50 a.m. ET Dec. 11, 2019
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 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.
shut down in January. The school was located on Northwestern Highway near 13 Mile Road in Farmington Hills and staffed with undercover agents posing as university officials.
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.]
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; the 250 arrests took place from January to July, said an ICE spokesperson.
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.
More: ICE arrests more students at fake university, others being removed from US
More: Attorney: Fake Farmington university sting by ICE was entrapment
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 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.
Reddy said that two of the students who were sent back to India through a voluntary departure agreement with ICE were denied entry into the U.S. after they tried to reenter this year.
becoming a subscriber of the Detroit Free Press.
Northwestern Polytechnic University's San Francisco attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, in a letter to the Free Press contended that “NPU (Northwestern Polytechnic University) did not lose its accreditation.” She said that an accrediting agency which had accredited NPU, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (“ACICS”), “was derecognized by the Department of Education,” but that “ultimately, a federal district court determined that the DOE’s decision to derecognize ACICS was improper and, subsequently, the DOE reinstated recognition of ACICS retroactively from the date of derecognition ….”
Rampeesa ultimately 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.
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: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-2234792. Twitter @nwarikoo.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comments from NPU’s attorney.
