Wow. The government did something clever and effective. Will wonders never cease?

The Washington Post reports.

The feds set up a fake university in N.J. and had a real learning experience — about alleged visa fraud

The current state of some American institutions of higher learning, flush with debates about trigger warnings, sexual assault and affirmative action, have left some critics wondering whether college students have time to learn anything anymore. But on the campus of the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ), nestled in idyllic Cranford about 20 miles from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, no students were concerned with such matters — because the school, as authorities just announced, was an elaborate front used by undercover federal agents to trap people illegally trying to score fake visas for foreign nationals.

Now, the UNNJ sting is over, but leaves quite a wake: the indictments of 21 “brokers, recruiters, and employers from across the United States who allegedly conspired with more than 1,000 foreign nationals,” as the Department of Justice explained, to keep them in the country under the auspices of an ersatz alma mater. Some who purchased fake papers ended up working at Facebook or working for the U.S. military, as ABC reported.

“‘Pay to Stay’ schemes not only damage our perception of legitimate student and foreign worker visa programs, they also pose a very real threat to national security,” New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a statement. “Today’s arrests, which were made possible by the great undercover work of our law enforcement partners, stopped 21 brokers, recruiters and employers across multiple states who recklessly exploited our immigration system for financial gain.”