As tax paying citizens, we all have a right to know where our taxes are being spent, and we all have varying opinions regarding what is an acceptable allocation of tax money towards one thing or the other. I get it – some people like an abundance of money to go towards the Department of Homeland Security, because by virtue of its mission, the DHS is supposed to protect the USA and its citizens from “the many threats we face.”

It isn’t uncommon for some US policy to be scoffed at by people in other countries (such as taking off one’s shoes at the airport) because these tactics are likely implemented to make common citizens feel safer. (Note – I am sure in many instances, national intelligence is on to something and is working very hard to protect the people of the USA. I’m just skeptical that the actual action they take has something to do with a child’s sneakers.)

Where it gets weird is when the DHS decides that they are going to create a fake university to lure in foreign students whom they later arrest and deport.

I was shocked to find out that this happened early in 2019, and I dug around different news sources to figure out the whole game plan of the DHS. A law professor at Wayne State University, Peter Henning, was quoted in multiple articles on the story stating that the situation was not a case of “entrapment” because “the government can put out the bait, but it’s up to the defendants to fall for it.” This is not the first time the DHS created a fake university, and these “stings” last a couple to a few years. And while you won’t find any articles on the first page of Google hits that question the operation, an article from The Guardian did quote Faiza Patel from NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice: “It’s an open question as to whether this is the best use of Ice’s resources.”

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Matthew Schneider, was quoted in the Washington Post arguing that the scam demonstrates that the international student visa system “can also be exploited and abused.” Yes, it can Mr. Schneider – but I guess only if the government is the one to set up the circumstances, because I’ve heard of more of these scam schools run by the DHS. Scam schools run by non-governmental bodies amounts to: 0.

Here’s where this leaves me: really, really skeptical of the DHS when it comes to international students. And as an administrative staff member who has a responsibility to serve the students who attend the institution where I work – a very small institution at that, so I get to know some of these students – I feel a need to protect as well. I am not the only person working in higher education who feels this way. In an article in Times Higher Education, higher education professionals shared their concerns, and a lawyer assisting some of the accused students was brought into the conversation. According to the lawyer, some students did sign up expecting classes, and were continuously informed of delayed start times.

The impact of this sting has left its mark. Just last week, an employer account in the job posting site Handshake has been thrown into question posting as a contingent of FEMA, an agency of the DHS. Other institutions have been doing their research into the website and the contact listed. The contact listed posted a threatening message, as it has been denied by colleges and universities since 2018, threatening to “report” schools that decline the employer. This is sketchy in and of itself (and is likely a fraud account not associated at all with FEMA, keep in mind), but it’s interesting to observe that I can’t help the alarm bells going off in my brain just because of the DHS association: anything to do with the DHS gets a little extra TLC in the screening-for-fraudulent process.

How ironic is that? How absurd? The DHS is supposed to be protecting me and other US citizens, and yet I feel the need to protect others against these intricate schemes that are supposed to protect “my country.”

It stems from the notion that “protection” is not something to be granted based on one’s nationality. What I would like to swear “allegiance” to is the protection of this planet and everything on it. And I’m pretty sure that doesn’t involve spending taxpayer dollars on predatory scams.