Thread: DHS Investigating Visa Fraud by Fake Universities

DHS Investigating Visa Fraud by Fake Universities

By: Phil Leggiere


08/15/2011 ( 6:52am)


The United States Department of Homeland Security has begun investigating fraudulent educational institutions in the US which have recruited thousands of Indian students and may be violating visa and immigration laws, Reta Jo Lewis, Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs, US Department of State, told a press conference in Mumbai, India last Thursday.

"The government is concerned about such cases with young people. Young people are prized possessions of any nation. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has leads on such instituitons and I will let my colleagues at the DHS handle it," Lewis said in response to a question from the Indian press corps.

The government of India had raised concerns about the existence of fraudulent entities in the US advertising themselves as legitimate universities after a few high profile cases this year.

On January 19, 2011 dozens of agents from Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the Tri-Valley University, Pleasanton, California campus searching administrator offices and the home of the University president.

The school, which had a population of nearly 1,500 Indian students, was charged with helping foreign nationals illegally acquire immigration status and eventually shut down for visa fraud.

In May 2011 a federal grand jury indicted the president of the school on 33-criminal counts, charging her with an array of violations, including visa fraud, money laundering and alien harboring, as a result of a two-year investigation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

According to the indictment, the school’s president Susan Su admitted and maintained foreign students in exchange for tuition and other payments. In furtherance of the F-1 visa scheme, Su also allegedly harbored multiple Tri-Valley University student-employees to assist her in making the false representations to SEVIS. The indictment further alleges the defendant engaged in multiple money laundering transactions totaling more than $3.2 million using proceeds she derived from the visa fraud scheme.

In late July 2011 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided the offices of the University of Northern Virginia, Annandale, Va., and notified the school it may lose its authorization to admit foreign students.

ICE at the time declined to discuss the details of the raid but said it was part of an ongoing investigation of UNVA, an unaccredited, for-profit school which caters to a largely foreign student body.

UNVA was given 30 days to show it is conforming with federal rules for administering student visas.

The "F-1" student visa program, according to ICE, “is designed to allow foreign nationals who are bona fide students to be admitted to the United States on a temporary basis to study at an approved school.â€

It's about time. Visa fraud is rampant.

Chancellor at Va. College Raided by ICE Resigns

Monday, Aug 22, 2011 | Updated 1:21 PM EDT

The chancellor of the for-profit college University of Northern Virginia, raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month, has stepped down from his post.

Several news outlets had published reports allegedly linking the former chancellor, David Lee, to sexual fetish websites.

The Washington Post first reported that a letter of resignation was posted online by Lee on Friday. "Discussions of my personal life have become a distraction for students and friends of UNVA at a time when we need to focus on much more significant issues," he wrote.

The University of Northern Virginia is an unaccredited, for-profit private university that calls itself the most popular American university for students from India. Thousands of students are registered at three locations in northern Virginia.

At the end of July, News4 first reported that dozens of ICE agents raided the Annandale campus of the University of Northern Virginia. The agency was investigating the schools practices in helping foreign students obtain visas.

www.nbcwashington.com