Proposed Settlement Reached for UNNJ Class Action

Remember the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ) – the fake school set up by the government to target immigration fraud committed by unscrupulous agents and brokers?  After five years of litigation, the government has reached a proposed settlement agreement with the plaintiffs.  Hundreds of foreign students who once enrolled in UNNJ finally see some positive development regarding their immigration status in the U.S. 

University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ), a school that was created by DHS to target visa fraud, has become the worst nightmare of their students. Over 1,000 foreign students were offered the option of leaving the country voluntarily or facing removal proceedings. Some students later brought a class-action lawsuit against the federal authorities. 

Now, the lawsuit will likely be ended by a potential settlement agreement. Once the agreement is approved, it will provide certain legal protections to the foreign nationals who are impacted by the UNNJ operation, including: 

• Foreign nationals will not be found inadmissible or deportable based on their UNNJ enrollment

It means that the former UNNJ students will not be deported from or prevented from entering the U.S. based on their UNNJ enrollment. 

• The government will not deny immigration benefits based on UNNJ enrollment

The authorities will not deny applicants' immigration applications, solely based on the applicant's UNNJ enrollment, from now on. If an applicant's immigration benefits had previously been denied by the government based on his/her UNNJ enrollment, the denials will not have any negative impacts on the applicant's future filings. 

• UNNJ-related misrepresentation made before UNNJ's closure can be retracted 

Misrepresentation made before 04/05/2016 by applicants regarding the UNNJ matters will not be considered “material misrepresentation.” If an applicant retracts or corrects the misrepresentation in a later filing, it will not be used as a ground of inadmissibility.  UNNJ students should make sure that they work with a qualified attorney to properly retract any false or untruthful statements. 

• Removal proceedings will be dismissed 

DHS will file motions to dismiss any pending deportation proceedings against any and all former UNNJ students. If a final order of removal was entered, DHS will reopen and dismiss the order. 

• UNNJ students will not accrue unlawful presence or found to be out of lawful status for a certain period

For former UNNJ students who are not currently in deportation proceedings and were never issued a final order of removal because of their UNNJ enrollment, they are not considered unlawfully present or out of status during the time they enrolled in the school through 180 days after the settlement agreement's approval. For those who are currently in removal proceedings or a final order of removal was entered, the end-date of the grace period will be 180 days after the date the removal proceedings are dismissed. 

• Expedite immigration benefits filed during a certain period

The government will take actions to expedite any immigration applications filed by or on behalf of UNNJ students. These may include requests to change or extend immigration status, application to adjust status to permanent resident, etc.  The expedited adjudication will not apply to asylum applications. 

• Impacted foreign nationals can apply for F-1 reinstatement 

DHS will provide special treatment for former UNNJ students to reinstate their F-1 student status. They will adjudicate the application despite it is filed outside the standard five-month filing window, student's lack of proper status, or prior denial of reinstatement. 

• DHS will rescind status-termination letters and modify records/databases

The status-termination letters sent to UNNJ students on account of their fraudulent enrollment will be treated as rescinded. The “fraud” and related notations against these students in the government databases will also be removed. 

The proposed settlement is not final yet, pending a Fairness Hearing scheduled for 05/02/2022 in Newark, NJ.  After five years of battle in the courtroom, this is indeed a huge relief for the foreign nationals who have been haunted by their UNNJ enrollment. 

(Immigration laws and policies change regularly.  If you have any questions regarding this article, please visit www.1visa1.com to schedule a legal consultation.)