Some guy named Eamonn Daniel Higgins from Laguna Niguel, Ca. was arrested Monday for running a ring that helped dozens of Arabs get U.S. student visas, Associated Press reports. 

The 46-year-old man was charged with hiring test-takers who, using false IDs, took various proficiency and college-placement exams for these Arabs, who for some reason were willing to pay $1,500 each to someone to get student visas to attend mostly junior colleges in this country, federal authorities said. 

The story notes the allegations “revealed a potentially dangerous security breach in the country’s student visa system.”

I guess so. 

In one case, the story notes, a Higgins’ cohort, a blond woman, was allowed to take an exam using a fake ID that matched her photo with a man’s Arabic name, so, obviously, no one is watching the store. 

Authorities have not said any of Higgins’ clients were terrorists but have yet to determine their motives for hiring Him, A.P. reports. I’m sure there’s a completely benign explanation for this, though, aren’t you?

Still, the revelation has alarmed immigration authorities, A.P. reports, and I should hope so. 

The story says authorities want to know the motives of the “students” who hired this guy to fake their tests, but I’d like to know Higgins’ motives, too. Why only Arabs? Aren’t there members of other nationalities who’d like to study here?

Is it possible that only Arab students were unable to pass these proficiency tests on their own? I suppose it’s occurred to someone besides me that perhaps these “students” were hoping to come here to learn how to fly planes but not to land them. Oh, yeah, they did that one already. I don’t know about you, but I’d be interested in knowing what exactly these “students” were studying.

AP reports a federal magistrate freed Higgins on $5,000 bail, and if he comes up missing before his trial, I’d advise authorities to check flights to Iran or elsewhere in the Muslim world. 

Anyway, authorities alleged that over a seven-year period, Higgins collected tens of thousands of dollars from foreign “students” from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Kuwait, Turkey and Qatar before getting caught taking their exams at 10 Southern California community colleges and universities using doctored IDs, the story notes. The scheme operated at seven Southern California community colleges and California State University campuses in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Dominguez Hills, according to the story. 

The story also notes that U.S. colleges and universities began using a specialized tracking system for foreign students after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but the current investigation exposed an unexpected loophole. 

Something of an understatement, in my opinion. 

I wonder if anyone’s checked to see if any of these “students” actually attended classes at these schools. They’re clearly not there now, since authorities say they can’t be found. A.P. reports that the investigation shows Higgins may have worked with hundreds of foreign students, but only 119 have been positively identified. Of those 48 are still roaming our streets. 

This should alarm everyone in the country, since the ring was broken after a wallet was found in Daly City in Northern California, containing seven fake driver’s licenses, all featuring Higgins’ nephew’s photo and names matching those of Arabs who entered the country on student visas. This indicates to me that this thing has the potential to have oozed into every corner of the country. 

 

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