Using a fake university based in Michigan, ICE arrested 90 more illegal immigrant students, bringing the total sting operation arrests to about 250.
The Department of Homeland Security created a fake Michigan-based college called the University of Farmington that the department marketed to foreign-born students looking to work in technology. The fake university told the students they could be enrolled in their school to get into the United States on student visas and then never attend the school as part of a “pay to stay” scam.
Students who agreed were arrested on visa fraud and deported. Only 10% of the 250 students caught in the sting had to be deported by Customs and Border Protection. The remaining 80% self-deported after being caught. The remaining 10% have their status tied up as they contest their deportation to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, claiming the situation is entrapment.
Several celebrities and Democratic politicians have decried the situation, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The New York congresswoman claimed ICE should be abolished, a proposal she has suggested before.
Actress Alyssa Milano also posted a tear-filled video expressing her outrage with the situation.
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
OH MY GOD.
ICE has arrested about 250 students who were enrolled at a fake university set up by ICE to lure in students.https://t.co/2P8iZtnMGB
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) November 27, 2019
@Alyssa_Milano is so hilarious when did she become a comedian? ? pic.twitter.com/yxloOpPJ8h
— Robert Knight (@Knirob83) November 27, 2019
“You’re destroying children’s lives because of f—ing arbitrary lines in the sand,” Milano said. “And we can’t let this be the new normal. This is not what this country is found on. This is not innately who we are as human beings.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Helms defended the operation, saying, “Their true intent could not be clearer. While ‘enrolled’ at the University, one hundred percent of the foreign citizen students never spent a single second in a classroom. If it were truly about obtaining an education, the University would not have been able to attract anyone, because it had no teachers, classes, or educational services.”
President Trump has tried to push stronger immigration policies since taking office but has not come close to deporting as many illegal immigrants as President Barack Obama.
