ICE Set Up a Fake College, Robbing and Deporting Foreign Students. Civil Rights Groups Want Answers.

The University of Farmington had many of the markings of a real college. It advertised over 20 undergraduate and graduate programs, claiming to be fully accredited and authorized to enroll international students. It reported that 98 percent of students were working full time in their fields of study. It even detailed a history dating back to the early 1950s.

By the time the University of Farmington closed in 2019, students had paid it $6 million in tuition and fees—and many were left stripped of their immigration status, stuck in detention, or deported. It was revealed in January 2019 that Farmington was a fake school set up by a branch of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to "investigate a complex fraud scheme" in the student visa system.