Over 1,000 foreign students—mainly form China and India—who wanted to stay in the country were willing to fake continuing their studies to do so. Now they face arrest and deportation and those who arranged the deal may get up to 10 years in prison.
The students, already in the country on student visas, paid 21 brokers, recruiters, and employers to enroll in fake courses at the University of Northern New Jersey so they could continue to stay in the U.S. and ultimately get H-1B foreign workers visas.
The intermediaries faked documents so it would look like the students not only attended the university, but also worked for it in some IT capacity. That would allow them to get work certification and apply for the H-1B visa.
Instead, the students bought themselves a ticket to trouble, as the University of Northern New Jersey was set up in September 2013 by agents of Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations.
The intermediaries were arrested, and the 1,076 “students” now face administrative arrest and removal proceedings.
“Today’s arrests, which were made possible by the great undercover work of our law enforcement partners, stopped 21 brokers, recruiters and employers across multiple states who recklessly exploited our immigration system for financial gain,” said Paul J. Fishman, New Jersey United States Attorney in an April 5 release on ICE website.
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