The “fake university” ICE sting at the center of many outraged tweets from Democrats was originally launched under President Barack Obama in 2015.
ICE announced on Wednesday that the agency had arrested 90 more illegal immigrants posing as students as part of a sting operation that offered noncitizens status as students at a phony university in a “pay to stay” scam. In total, the sting operation has resulted in visa fraud charges and deportations for around 250 illegal immigrants.
Many Democrats took to Twitter to condemn President Trump and ICE for using a fake university in their raid. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the operation was grounds to “abolish ICE.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren called it “cruel and appalling.” Several people blasted Trump and his administration specifically for dreaming up the fake university operation.
Abolish ICE. https://t.co/9uMtKmyEI1
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 27, 2019
This is cruel and appalling. These students simply dreamed of getting the high-quality higher education America can offer. ICE deceived and entrapped them, just to deport them. https://t.co/t6kQLiV5oh
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 27, 2019
ICE arrests 90 more students at fake university in Michigan… Once again the private sector shows the way. Trump’s experience setting up fake universities has been adapted for government use. https://t.co/dNQ4EZKy9S
— Dan Janison (@Danjanison) November 27, 2019
Leave it to the Trump administration to use a fake university—this time, to trick immigrants into forking over cash for fake classes and invalidating their legal visas in the process. They ended up arrested by ICE. How is this anything but entrapment? https://t.co/O5JnXwB0Mw
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) November 28, 2019
Trump & ICE have a lot in common… racism, heartlessness, fake universities… https://t.co/2WbVDmjmCY
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) November 28, 2019
But the Trump administration didn’t come up with the scheme. That credit should be given to Obama’s administration. Activist Ben Speilberg noted that Obama was not only responsible for the idea, which was implemented in 2015, but his administration also used a similar sting operation in 2013.
He tweeted, “ICE began this outrageous fake college entrapment scheme in 2015. ICE did the same thing to over 1,000 students in New Jersey in 2016 (they opened the fake New Jersey college in 2013).”
ICE began this outrageous fake college entrapment scheme in 2015. ICE did the same thing to over 1,000 students in New Jersey in 2016 (they opened the fake New Jersey college in 2013). #ThanksObama https://t.co/ZMUIID9qri
— Ben Spielberg (@BenSpielberg) November 28, 2019
Trump has been wrongly credited with many of Obama’s immigration policies. He has been blamed several times for photographs taken of migrant children in cages during the Obama administration. Additionally, Democrats have condemned Trump for deporting illegal immigrants even though deportation totals under Obama were significantly higher.
