2 Miami women charged with running vast student visa fraud ring

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Posted on Thursday, 03.04.10
2 Miami women charged with running vast student visa fraud ring
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
[email protected]

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have arrested two women in Miami and charged them with operating a major student visa fraud ring through which they tricked the federal government into granting more than 200 student visas to foreign nationals who were not students, agency officials and the U.S. attorney in Miami announced Thursday.

Jeffrey H. Sloman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony V. Mangione, special agent in charge, ICE Office of Investigations, Miami Field Office, described the scheme at a news conference.

An ICE media advisory called the operation the ``largest single visa fraud takedown in agency's history.'' The visas involved foreign nationals fraudulently enrolled as students at Florida Language Institute, 947 SW 87th Ave., according to a grand jury indictment in the case.

Whether foreign students show up for their assigned courses in U.S. schools became a major issue in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, when federal investigators discovered some of the terrorists had student visas and did not properly use them. One of the attackers, in fact, entered the United States as a student -- but never showed up for classes in a language school in California.

Hani Hanjour, believed to have piloted the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, carried a student visa that authorized him to study English in the United States. He landed in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Dec. 8, 2000, and told an airport passport control officer that he intended to live in Oakland, Calif., to take English-language courses. He never showed up for his courses.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/04/1512757/2-miami-women-charged-with-running.html

[Left Coast2020]

1. This worries me a bit.

My friend who is currently in China is planning to come here as student on F-1 Visa. We are likely to get married since she just lost her mom. She wants to be a teacher. Her english is really good. I worry INS may scruitize her too much. She is a dear heart and I want her to be successful. Amazing how the bad apples "F" things up for legititmate people.