Foreign students at fake Michigan University can sue US govt, says court

A federal appeals court has said all the international students who were enrolled at the fake Michigan University can now sue the US government to recover the fees they paid.

The university was opened in 2016 and operated as a pay-to-stay student visa fraud. Teja Ravi reached the court on behalf of himself and other affected international students. The students paid the tuition fees but never got the educational services in return for the fees submitted.

Before the ruling of the Court of Appeals, a lower court had thrown out the lawsuit filed by the Indian student. However, the Court of Appeals said that the US government has collected the tuition fees from the affected international students without providing them with education facilities, and hence the agency can not be immune from the lawsuit filed by the student, as reported by The Pie News.

Reportedly, the federal agency has collected around $6 million in tuition fees from the students and did not provide them with any curriculum, classes and educators.

While responding to this lawsuit, the US government said that the recruiters had made it clear to the students that they were paying for the university but would not get any educational services in return. As per the US government, the international students were aware of this and hence there is no wrongdoing on the government's part.

Attorney Anna Nathanson, who represented Ravi in the case, said in a release, “Previously, forty-plus civil rights groups called for a probe into this fake ICE university. The University collected $6m dollars of student tuition payments without providing classes and educational opportunities to the students, as promised."

“The fake university led to the approximately 600 impacted students arbitrarily losing their visas; in some cases, students were also held in immigration detention facilities. Students report that they enrolled at the University of Farmington under the understanding that they would be completing a full educational program, but the classes never materialized," added the release.

Complaint against Fake Michigan University: More Details

The international students sought "compensatory, statutory and/or punitive damages" for breaching the contract and not providing them the education.

Prudhivi Rag, a former student at Farmington University said, "This decision is not just a legal win, but a moral one. It underscores that no one, not even the government, is above the fundamental principles of fairness and honesty. It is a reminder that justice prevails and that the voices of those wronged will be heard. We are grateful for this outcome and remain steadfast in our commitment to justice and that justice, though delayed, is never denied."

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