Students at fake Michigan university set up by ICE can sue, court rules

(CBS DETROIT) - Students who paid to attend a fake university created by Homeland Security agents can sue the government, a court ruled last week.

The decision was made last week by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit gives hundreds of students who attended the University of Farmington, a fake university operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Farmington Hills, as part of an operation targeting students seeking to extend their visas.

Teja Ravi filed a complaint in 2020 individually and on behalf of other students, seeking "compensatory, statutory and/or punitive damages" claiming that the school breached their contract , since they took money for tuition and never provided educational services.

The ICE-operated university collected six million dollars from tuition payments without ever holding classes, and roughly 600 students lost their visas, and some were even held at immigration detention centers, according to a release from the attorney representing Ravi.

The complaint was dismissed in 2022, but the decision was overturned last week. A three-judge panel ruled that the students can pursue the suit for breach of contract. This means that the lawsuit will return to trial court.

"This decision is not just a legal win, but a moral one," said Prudhivi Rag, who was a student at Farmington University. "It underscores that no one, not even the government, is above the fundamental principles of fairness and honesty. It is a reminder that justice prevails and that the voices of those wronged will be heard. We are grateful for this outcome and remain steadfast in our commitment to justice and that justice, though delayed, is never denied."

The plan for the university was devised in 2014 as part of a strategy law enforcement officials called Operation Paper Chase, according to court documents.

The operation was run under the guise of Farmington University, which was presented to students as "a State of Michigan licensed and nationally accredited private university."

The Homeland Security agents secured a building in Farmington Hills for the school's office and created a website. The students impacted were legally in the country on F-1 visas, but the fake university was created to target students "fraudulently maintaining their student visa status while working in the United States," also known as the "pay to stay" scheme.

When Ravi, a citizen of India, applied to the school in 2018, he was enrolled at Northwestern Polytechnic University in California under an F-1 visa.

From the time he enrolled until the university was closed in January 2019, Ravi paid $12,500 for tuition. He never received a schedule or attended classes despite asking administrators about classes.

Following the news of this fake university scheme, more than 40+ organizations had sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties calling for an investigation.