A lawsuit filed towards Columbia College by an worker who says she was fired for refusing to mislead the US Division of Homeland Safety has extraordinarily important implications for its foreign-student program’s future. If the allegations are true, Columbia will seemingly lose the flexibility to enroll new overseas college students for no less than a yr.
What number of different colleges interact in the sort of illegal exercise is unknown, however DHS ought to take a better take a look at the greater than 15,000 campuses it has licensed to enroll overseas college students to make sure this isn’t occurring elsewhere.
As The Post first reported, a Columbia College Designated College Official (or DSO, a college’s DHS liaison) says she was directed to “course of immigration paperwork on behalf of a gaggle of potential college students from South Africa with out the required documentation, together with proof of funding and full-time engagement in a prescribed program, as required by federal laws.”
DSO Yocasta Brens alleges that Stephanie J. Rowley, Columbia’s provost, dean and vp for educational affairs, “accused Brens of being too ‘rigid’ within the software of federal laws.” Brens states she and her workers “have been ceaselessly requested to ‘bend’ the principles in an effort to hold the enrollment of worldwide college students at a excessive degree” and directed to “certify that sure worldwide college students have been enrolled full-time once they have been, in truth, not full-time college students” and “lengthen college students’ immigration paperwork when they didn’t qualify primarily based on federal necessities.”
As a prime official with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement below the Trump administration who labored to handle fraud inside our nation’s foreign-student program, I can guarantee you that the company’s law-enforcement officers discover these allegations very troubling. ICE’s Scholar and Change and Customer Program (SEVP) certifies colleges to enroll overseas college students and ensures they’re getting into correct info into the Scholar and Change Customer Info System, a database created within the wake of the terrorist assaults of Sept. 11, 2001. SEVIS exists exactly as a result of DHS must know if a overseas nationwide fails to keep up full-time enrollment and take motion earlier than a risk develops. Faculties that fail to stick to those national-security-focused laws create a major risk to our nation and might have their certification to enroll overseas college students withdrawn.
Underneath the regulation, “SEVP certification of a college or college system . . . will likely be withdrawn . . . if the college or college system is set to now not be entitled to certification for any legitimate and substantive cause” (emphasis added). The phrase “any legitimate and substantive cause” is broad sufficient to cowl what’s alleged to have taken place at Columbia, however the regulation features a listing of examples that represent a cause for withdrawal, comparable to a failure to maintain information the place the “pupil isn’t pursuing a full course of examine” and issuance of Type I-20 — the central doc for all overseas college students — “to aliens who won’t be enrolled in or carry full programs of examine.” There’s additionally a catch-all cause SEVP will withdraw certification: “Conduct on the a part of a DSO that doesn’t adjust to the laws.”
SEVP might quickly hand Columbia a Discover of Intent to Withdraw. The regulation explains: “SEVP will provoke an out-of-cycle evaluate and serve the college with an NOIW if SEVP has info {that a} college or college system could now not be entitled to SEVP certification previous to the college being due for its two-year recertification” (emphasis added).
DHS depends closely on DSOs to make sure information on overseas college students are correctly reported. This info consists of, for instance, tutorial information, contact info, whether or not the scholar is sustaining a full course of examine and any employment associated to the controversial Elective Sensible Coaching program. These are vital roles regulation created; SEVP can’t ignore what’s alleged to have occurred with out undermining nationwide safety and the legitimacy of the foreign-student program as a complete. If that is occurring at an Ivy League campus, it’s onerous to not think about it occurring at extra obscure colleges.
SEVP should instantly launch an investigation of Columbia’s complete foreign-student program. ICE’s particular brokers might want to audit all SEVIS info Columbia supplied to find out the extent of the alleged fraud.
It’s troubling these allegations solely got here to mild in a whistleblower’s lawsuit. ICE ought to contemplate a nationwide audit of different colleges to find out the extent of compliance with these necessary laws. Congress can be sensible to comply with this intently given the numerous national-security implications. Extra evaluation on the case is accessible here.
Suspicious exercise might be reported to ICE by way of the online tip form or by calling 1-866-DHS-2-ICE. The company desires to listen to from anybody who has info which will help in uncovering illegal exercise, whether or not it’s fraud inside a college’s foreign-student program, employment fraud involving overseas college students or some other suspicious exercise involving immigration or customs issues.
Jon Feere, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief of workers below the Trump administration, is the director of investigations on the Heart for Immigration Research.
