Students Enrolled at Fake University Set Up by Federal Agents Can Sue U.S. Government

Students who enrolled at a fake university set up by federal immigration agents have the right to sue the U.S. government, a federal court has ruled. A decision last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit means that the hundreds of students who paid tuition at the University of Farmington in Farmington Hills -- created by undercover agents with U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- have a legal basis to continue pursuing their claims in court. In 2020, a lawsuit was filed against the U.S. government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims by attorneys on behalf of Teja Ravi and other students enrolled at the University of Farmington, which no longer exists after ICE shut it down in 2019 and arrested at least 250 of its students. The suit said the U.S.

breached their contract with the students by essentially stealing their tuition money, about $11,000 a year for each student. They are asking for their money back and other punitive damages. But the legal claim was dismissed on technical grounds in 2022 by the Claims Court, which said the case lacked jurisdiction. Three judges with the appeals court overturned that decision on June 25 and remanded the case back to the Claims Court. 'This decision is not just a legal win, but a moral one,' Prudhivi Raj, a student at the university, said Friday in a statement.

'It underscores that no one, not even the government, is above the fundamental principles of fairness and honesty. ... We are grateful for this outcome and remain steadfast in our commitment to justice.' The Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, did not return an email this week from the Free Press seeking comment on the court's ruling. ICE has previously said it was trying to combat visa fraud. Attorneys with the Department of Justice are representing it in the case.

ICE started its undercover operation in 2015, creating a fake office on Northwestern Highway near 13 Mile with a website and an admissions process like a regular university. The University of Farmington was even listed on the website of ICE as a school approved by the U.S. government for students. It seemed real to its 600-plus students, a majority of them immigrants from India interested in studying technology and science. Many students are able to live and work legally in the U.S.

through university programs such as the one the University of Farmington touted. The students had arrived legally in the U.S. and were on F-1 student visa programs when they enrolled. But it was all an elaborate operation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations to trick foreign-born students they allege were trying to 'pay to stay' in the U.S., a claim the students deny. ICE arrested hundreds of students, deported many of them and others left the U.S.

on their own. 'The U.S. government (is) refusing to take accountability for the parents separated from their children over this, the couples separated over this, and the financial burden on families,' said attorney Anna Nathanson, who represents the students and argued the case in court. 'The need for justice is urgent.' Records reveal the Department of Homeland Security went to great lengths to deceive the students, said their attorneys. The fake university was incorporated in the state of Michigan in January 2016, records with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs show.

The Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, which was working with the U.S. on its sting operation, also listed the university as legitimate. The Free Press previously obtained emails and undercover recordings by ICE that revealed in part how the operation was conducted. Ravi said he had paid $12,500 in tuition to the University of Farmington when he enrolled in March 2018. He and other students became suspicious when classes didn't start and contacted the university to find out what was happening, but were not helped.

Ravi was 'informed that he would have a regular class schedule and have regular class,' the lawsuit said. 'But he was never enrolled in classes or given assignments. As soon as the semester commenced, and he still was not enrolled in classes, he contacted officials at the University to ask about classes and assignment. A university official advised him not worry about it as that was not an issue.' After hearing a rumor the university may be fake, Ravi 'was told by a University official that the rumor was not true,' the lawsuit said. In their decision, the three judges noted that Ravi never got his money back, saying, 'The allegations of fact we accept as true for purposes of this appeal are straightforward.' The judges said Ravi 'paid thousands of dollars to the 'University of Farmington' to enroll as a student, expecting to take classes.

At the time of his enrollment, Mr. Ravi was unaware that the University was not a university at all but had been formed and advertised to offer educational services for money -- though not actually provide them -- as an undercover operation of ... (DHS) to target fraud involving student visas. The government's operation eventually came to light, but the government neither provided the paid-for education nor gave Mr. Ravi his money back.' Students said they were entrapped, but ICE officials defended their actions.

Vance Callender, the former special agent in charge of the Detroit office of ICE's HSI at the time who was later placed on leave after agents raided his home in 2022, told the Free Press in 2019 that 'HSI special agents, as part of this undercover operation, made it abundantly clear in their interactions with potential University of Farmington enrollees that the school did not offer academic or vocational programs of any kind. The individuals who enrolled in the University of Farmington did so intentionally.' A Free Press report in November 2019 about additional arrests of students sparked outrage from several elected officials against ICE, including then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris; U.S. Sen.

Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Michigan's U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, among others.

'This is cruel and appalling,' Warren wrote on Twitter, now X, linking to the Free Press story. 'These students simply dreamed of getting the high-quality higher education America can offer. ICE deceived and entrapped them, just to deport them.' In 2022, 40 civil rights and social justice groups signed a letter calling upon the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to investigate how the department operated the University of Farmington and asked for redress of the students. Nathanson said the students were 'unjustly targeted by this fake ICE university.' She added that the court's ruling last week has implications that go beyond this particular case and could set a legal precedent when the government overreaches in contracts with private parties. Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or X @nwarikoo