Scores of South Florida students are being charged in a crackdown on a local school that acted more as a no-questions-asked visa shop than an institute of higher learning, federal officials say.
"We are bringing criminal charges against the folks who ran the school," said U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman, "who in effect sold student visas no questions asked."
Federal agents arrested not only Lydia Menocal, the head of the Florida Language Institute, but her assistant, Ophelia Macia, and 81 students at the so-called school. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents fanned out across South Florida to take the students into custody and confiscated more than $2 million in profits.
"You know that the 911 terrorists came here on student visas, and these students may have engaged in innocuous behavior, but we may mever know that," said Sloman. "We are trying to get to the bottom of it." The foreigners enrolled came from 12 countries including Thailand, Syria, Honduras, South Korea, and Colombia.
The school has been shut down to international students, and Macia could get 5 years, the operator Menacal 15 years.
Fed agents hope this also sends a message to other schools in South Florida, and they are now all being questioned to see if they have any ties to terrorst groups.
Agents said students were supposed to spend 18 hours a week in class, but over 90 percent didn't go, and the school didn't report the violations as required by anti- terrorist laws.
"Her school has desks, books, listening equpiment, and all the tools to learn english," said Sloman.
However, Thursday Federal agents said the one thing missing was, well, virtually any class.
