Pasricha & Patel Takeaways:
The Department of Homeland Security set up an undercover operation in which it set up a fake university called the University of Farmington based out of an office in Farmington Hills, Michigan to entice F-1 students who wanted to remain in the U.S. and obtain work authorization via Curricular Practical Training (CPT) program. The federal indictment was unsealed on January 31, 2019 by the Department of Justice to reveal that there are six (6) individuals who were charged with conspiracy to assist with more than 600 foreign nationals to remain illegally in the U.S. as F-1 students and work in the U.S., while those same foreign students were allegedly informed upfront by the undercover DHS agents who were posing as university officials that they would not be attending any classes or earning any academic credits, and that they can simply pay fees to the university and then be eligible for CPT and work in the U.S.
