Court rules that students at a fake university in Michigan founded by the immigration authorities (ICE) can sue

(CBS-DETROIT) – Students who paid to attend a fake university created by Department of Homeland Security agents can sue the government, a court ruled last week.

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was issued last week to hundreds of students who attended the University of Farmington – a fake university run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Farmington Hills – and was part of an operation targeting students seeking visa extensions.

Teja Ravi filed a lawsuit in 2020 personally and on behalf of other students, seeking “compensatory, statutory and/or punitive damages.” He claimed that the school breached its contract by taking money for tuition and never providing educational services.

The ICE-run university collected $6 million in tuition fees without ever holding classes. About 600 students lost their visas and some were even held in immigration detention centers, according to a press release from the lawyer representing Ravi.

The lawsuit was dismissed in 2022, but the decision was overturned last week. A three-judge panel ruled that the students can continue to pursue the breach of contract lawsuit, meaning the case will go back to court.

“This decision is not only a legal victory, but also a moral one,” said Prudhivi Rag, a Farmington University graduate. “It underscores that no one, not even the government, is above the basic principles of fairness and honesty. It reminds us that justice prevails and that the voices of those who have been wronged are heard. We are grateful for this outcome and remain true to our commitment to justice and that justice, even when it is slow to come, is never denied.”

According to court documents, the plan was designed for the university in 2014 as part of a law enforcement strategy called “Operation Paper Chase.”

The operation was conducted under the guise of Farmington University, which presented itself to students as “a private university licensed by the State of Michigan and nationally accredited.”

Department of Homeland Security agents secured a building in Farmington Hills for the university’s office and created a website. The students involved were legally in the country on F-1 visas, but the fake university was created to target students who were “fraudulently maintaining their student visa status while working in the United States,” also known as the “pay-to-stay” scheme.

When Ravi, an Indian citizen, applied to the school in 2018, he was enrolled at Northwestern Polytechnic University in California on an F-1 visa.

From the time he enrolled until the university closed in January 2019, Ravi paid $12,500 in tuition. He never received a class schedule or attended any classes, even though he asked the administration about courses.

When the public was informed of this bogus university plot, over 40 organizations sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties calling for an investigation.

CBS News Detroit reached out to ICE for comment and was told, “ICE does not comment on litigation or its outcomes.”