University of Farmington Case (2019)
In one sentence
The "DSO" who signed the CPT authorizations was an ICE undercover agent, and that approval still did not protect students afterward. Recruiters were sentenced; no company that hosted these students for CPT appears in the primary sources as having been pursued.
Facts
HSI's "Operation Paper Chase" set up the University of Farmington in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and closed it in January 2019. The Court of Federal Claims described the operation's target as people who paid tuition to a collaborating school in exchange for an I-20 authorizing CPT, so they could work in the U.S. without attending class.
On a recording, one recruiter told an agent that his students did not want classes:
"Oh, no, no, no. They want CPT."
Outcomes by party
| Party | Finding | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer: school | The government itself | In litigation the government admitted it "provided Plaintiffs with endorsements that purported to authorize CPT" |
| Recruiters | Held responsible | Each of the eight pleaded guilty to one conspiracy count (18 U.S.C. 371, conspiracy to commit visa fraud and to harbor aliens for profit). Sentences: Sama 24 months; Kakireddy and Kandala 18 months each; Thakkallapally 15 months; Rampeesa, Nune, and Prathipati 12 months and one day each; Karnati 6 months |
| Companies hosting students | Not involved | No such company was pursued in any primary source |
| SEVP / ICE | Enforcer | Terminated students' SEVIS records in January 2019, then arrested some students and placed them in removal proceedings. News reports quoting an ICE spokesperson put the number arrested at about 250 |
| USCIS | Not in primary sources | Reports of students' later applications being denied appear only in law-firm articles |
| Students | Bore the consequences | ICE held that enrollees knowingly violated their status; see below |
The ICE Acting Deputy Director's statement of December 2019 placed responsibility squarely on the students:
prior to enrolling at Farmington, each prospective enrollee was informed that there were no classes, curriculum or teachers at Farmington. Despite this, individuals enrolled because they saw an opportunity to avoid any academic requirements and, instead, work full-time, which was a violation of their nonimmigrant status.
Students' lawsuits
- Yerrapareddypeddireddy v. Albence (D. Ariz. 2021): two students who had done CPT through Farmington sued ICE over the termination of their SEVIS records. The court reasoned that once the school ceased to exist the students were no longer enrolled, so terminating the records was a "clerical duty," and ruled for the government. The court also noted that the administrative record contained no finding by ICE that these two students had committed fraud.
- Ravi v. United States (Fed. Cir. 2024): a student sued for breach of contract to recover tuition. The Federal Circuit addressed only jurisdiction and revived his claim. The opinion records that he had left the country and "no enforcement action was taken against him."
What this case shows
- The power to authorize CPT sits with the DSO, but a DSO's approval is no shield. Here the approver was ICE itself, and ICE still found the students knowingly violated their status, on the ground that they were told before enrolling that there were no classes.
- What decides a student's outcome is what the student knew.
- The parties pursued on the "employer side" were recruiters, not the companies where students worked.