In 2015 ICE set up a fake university to ‘sting’ people who paid thousands of dollars for the privilege of staying to live, work, have lives, and contribute to the economy in the US. ICE’s stated position in court was that all the students who enrolled in this university did so knowing they would never attend classes or otherwise receive any benefits. This government-run operation took thousands of dollars from potential students, kept the money, and never had any intention of providing anything in exchange.

In 2021, a would-be student named Ravi Teja Tiyagurra sued the government for fraud, because a lot of people like him did believe that they were paying to attend a real college and, when they turned out not to be, didn’t get their money back. This month a 3-judge panel of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that all 600 students could sue the government. “The government’s operation eventually came to light,” the judges wrote, “but the government neither provided the paid-for education nor gave Mr. Ravi his money back.”

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)