F-1 Enforcement Cases

Published 2026-10-06

Updated at 2026-10-06

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This section collects enforcement actions and court decisions involving F-1 students on CPT and OPT. Every case is laid out around the same set of parties — whoever issued the work authorization, the school, the employer providing the position, SEVP and ICE, USCIS, and the student — and states whether each was held responsible, treated as deceived, or not involved.

Every statement rests on primary sources: court decisions, DOJ and ICE releases, AAO decisions. Anything found only in news reports or law-firm articles is marked as such. For an analysis of who is responsible for what, see Who Oversees CPT Status.

All cases

Year	Case	Type	Who was pursued	Outcome for students
2011	Tri-Valley University	Fraudulent school	President and signer, 198 months	SEVIS records terminated, work authorization ended
2012	Herguan University	Fraudulent school	CEO, 12 months; school's certification withdrawn	Not addressed in primary sources
2016	University of Northern New Jersey	Government sting, CPT	Recruiters and staffing firms pleaded guilty	Status terminated, later restored by settlement
2019	University of Farmington	Government sting, CPT	8 recruiters, 6 to 24 months	SEVIS records terminated; some students arrested and removed
2019	Mercyhurst University DSO	DSO falsified admission documents	DSO, 2 years' probation and a $1,000 fine	Not addressed in primary sources
2019–2020	Findream / Sinocontech	Shell employer, OPT	Owner, 37 months	Not charged; found to have committed fraud years later, one application at a time
2020	ICE Operation OPTical Illusion	Shell employers, OPT	The release names no company	15 students who claimed employment at nonexistent companies arrested
2022–2026	Four AAO decisions on students of fake OPT employers	Shell employers, OPT	—	A student who verified the employer was cleared; students whose own statements were false were not
2025	Dubey v. DHS (7th Cir.)	Paid sham training programs, OPT	—	Visas revoked at entry, most expedited-removed; court held it lacked jurisdiction
2026	Challa v. DHS (D.D.C.)	Unpaid work during STEM OPT	—	Found inadmissible at entry and expedited-removed; substantive claims not reviewable