Fake University Set Up By ICE To Lure Foreign Students
DETROIT — In the summer of 2017, a foreign student in Michigan received an email from an official at the University of Farmington.
"It was a pleasure speaking with you," university official Ali Milani wrote to the student from India. "Thank you for your recent interest in The University of Farmington, a nationally accredited business and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) institution."
At the bottom of the email, it described the university as: "A nationally accredited institution authorized to enroll international students by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security."
The email and others like it were obtained by the Detriot Free Press, revealing how the university portrayed itself to potential foreign students. The email exchanges with Ali Milani – who is described in a LinkedIn profile as the president of the University of Farmington – show how the school in Farmington Hills, Michigan, may have lured students to enroll in a fake university set up by The Department of Homeland Security.
A federal indictment unsealed Jan. 30 said that the university was produced by federal agents with an investigative division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of DHS. Federal agents posed as university officials such as "Ali Milani" to trick the students, say attorneys.
Federal prosecutors allege that more than 600 students enrolled at the university knew it was improper, but the emails and attorneys tell a different story.
In addition to the emails, federal undercover agents took other steps to manipulate the foreign students, according to public records and attorneys:
Undercover investigators with the Department of Homeland Security registered the University of Farmington with the state of Michigan as a university using a fake name.
At the request of DHS, a national accreditation agency listed the University of Farmington as being accredited in order to help deceive prospective students.
The university was also placed by federal investigators on the website of ICE as n university approved by them under a government program for foreign students known as SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Program).
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/17/emails-reveal-fake-university-lured-students/2884848002/
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